


Dark Side of Me

by kilojulietsierra



Series: All My Friends Are Heathens [2]
Category: Bright (2017)
Genre: Action, Alcohol, Cross-Posted on Tumblr, Explicit Language, F/M, Interspecies Relationship(s), Orcish, Orcs, Organized Crime, Original Character(s), References to Drugs, Romance, Russian, Smut, Some Fluff, Violence, barely any plot, fogteeth, jk there is plot now
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-22
Updated: 2018-07-16
Packaged: 2019-03-22 05:00:11
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 12
Words: 45,470
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13756842
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kilojulietsierra/pseuds/kilojulietsierra
Summary: Masha is a young Russian immigrant that lands in LA. It doesn't take long before a random encounter, her unique attitude and certain skills get her involved with a local clan, the Fogteeth. As years go by she grows closer and closer to the clan, despite her race. The closer she gets the more peculiar her life becomes, but there's something about her "relationship" with Dorghu, the clan leader, she just can't get away from even if she wanted to.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Dorghu x Human Female OC with lots of Fogteeth. Takes place in same universe as Blood & Bylines so you might recognize a few characters and MAY see a crossover eventually. (Also go read that too!)
> 
> Each chapter takes place in a different time, sometimes jumping days, weeks, months or a year ahead, basically watching it progress over several years through small windows in time. (Hopefully that makes sense.) Chapter One takes place several years before the events of Bright.
> 
> Darkside by Ty Dolla Sign & Future (feat Kiiara) = title inspo
> 
>  
> 
> **“Orcish looks like this.”**
> 
>  
> 
> _“Russian looks like this.”_

Chapter One

The streets were still foreign to her and she wasn’t comfortable in the neighborhood yet. It was the only place she could afford and relatively close to her new job. That was the big selling point because she didn’t have a car, and didn’t want to spend precious money on buses or taxis. Although, now, in the dark, as she walked down sidewalks she didn’t recognize, she couldn’t help but think maybe the bus fare would have been worth it.

She kept her pace steady, head up and eyes forward as she walked but at the next intersection she had to stop and check her phone. Everything looked different at night and she had to admit, the thought of being truly lost here was not something she was ready to handle just yet. The map on her phone seemed to take forever to load, and while it did she looked around. A sound, louder than the music in her ear buds, down the street to her left, made her jump. A group of orcs stood on the next corner, drinking and laughing. They weren’t all that frightening but she was still relieved when the map on her phone finally loaded and she saw that there was another block to go before she would turn on the street towards her apartment building.

The orcs down the street quieted down when she entered the cross walk, she knew they could see her even in the dark. About halfway across the street they started up their conversation again and she relaxed a little. She still turned the volume of her music down. Their voices faded away behind her as she made her way down the next block, but a new noise made itself known. Heavy footsteps on dirty pavement. 

Without a look back Masha stretched her stride out but tried not to change her pace enough to be noticeable. The steps behind her however, they did speed up.

As carefully as she could she pulled out her ear buds and wrapped them around her phone. She ried not to make any big movements as she slipped the phone in the pocket of her jacket and zipped the pocket. The steps were right behind her, just a few feet away and she sucked in a deep breath before she spun on her heel and faced whoever followed her. In front of her stood an orc, over six feet, thick and bulky, one tusk shorter than the other. He snarled and took a step towards her.

_“What do you want?”_

Her Russian threw him for a loop and his smile grew as he took another step closer, “You not from here sweetie? Sounds like you’re a long way from home.”

She stared, indignant but confused, she could only understand a few words. _“What do you want? Why are you following me?”_

Now he only snarled and advanced. Masha was on the defensive but did not understand what the orc had said. Maybe he wasn’t a threat. He certainly looked like a threat though. Especially when he struck out and backhanded her across the face.

Masha gasped slightly as she threw her hands out to catch herself against the brick wall. Before the bite of the abrasive material even registered in her mind her face was smashed against the wall and a huge weight pressed up behind her. _“What the fuck? Get off of me you ugly cunt with ears!”_

He smashed her further into the wall, “Go ahead and beg. Won’t do you any good.” The brick dug into her face as she steadied her breath and assessed her situation. She struggled and clawed at him behind her back until he gave up and wrapped her neck in a choke hold. “Shut up you little skank.”

He didn’t know it but he had made a big mistake when he put her in a choke hold. Immediately in her head a timer started. Five seconds. She wedged her hands into the crook of his elbow and tucked her chin. Four seconds. Masha pushed back, fought to keep her back straight. Three seconds. She finally had enough distance to get a foot on the wall. Two seconds. Her eyes clamped shut, air sucked in through her nose, she walked both her feet up the wall and pushed back as hard as she could before she kicked her knees up hard towards the sky and then dropped her whole body weight towards the ground.

His hold loosened with her sudden motion and she gasped in as much air as possible, another second and she would have blacked out, but she wasn’t free yet. With a growl of her own and a stretch she wrapped her lean leg behind his the size of a small tree. As fast as she could she turned herself 180 degrees, still in the head lock but now she faced the opposite direction. She drove an elbow into his ribs, braced a hand against his armpit and jerked his arm as hard as she could across her body. 

Even with the massive size difference the orc lost his balance, fell back over her leg and fell to the ground so hard that his head bounced of the curb.

Masha didn’t pause, she took the opportunity to twist and lock his wrist before she began to put the metaphorical boots to his kidneys.

Her attacker grunted and growled and dug in the waistband of his sweats with his free hand and jerked a 9mm handgun free.

Her focus shifted to the gun and she grabbed for it, used the awkward angle to her advantage. She grabbed the gun with with the hand that didn’t have his wrist in a lock and shifted her weight to deliver a kick to his opposite elbow. Within the blink of an eye the orc found himself on the ground, gasping for air, with his own gun pointed at his face. Masha took three, deliberate steps back. Her eyes jumped to the end of the street where the group of orcs from earlier now stood. _“All of you just stay away!”_ She turned the gun from the group, to the orc on the ground and back.

The orcs down the street advanced. _“I said stay away!”_ She reached up and racked the slide pack on the pistol, a shell now sat in the chamber.

One of the orcs in the group moved to the front, slowly pulled his hands from the pockets of his leather jacket. “Easy. Do you speak English? _English?”_

The orcs use of Russian caught her attention. Her eyes jumped to the orc in front of her, still gasping for air, then back to the one that had addressed her. “Some. Not good.”

He nodded, hands still held out to the sides, **“Bodzvokhan? You know Bodzvokhan?”**

Now Masha was very shocked, “Umm, yes, more than English.” She took the guns sight off of him and pointed it back to the orc that had attacked her, _“You speak Russian?”_ The orc down the street nodded. She relaxed a little at being able to use her own language. _“Is he one of yours?”_

**“No, see our clothes.”** He pointed to his own jacket and to the jerseys and shirts of the four men around him, then he pointed to the orc still panting, wide eyed on the ground in between them. **“He’s not wearing our colors. Not a member of our clan.”**

Slowly Masha nodded, _“Why are you here? You were down the street, why did you come? What do you want?”_

_“Slow down. I can’t understand when you talk that fast.”_ The orc down the street took a cautious step forward, hands still spread wide so she could see.

Masha took a deep breath, “Why you came?”

**“Heard a woman yelling. What kind of orc would I be if we didn’t come check?”**

Masha nodded, on edge again though.

**“If you let me, my guys can handle him.”** He chuckled dryly then added, **“Looks like you did a pretty good job on your own though.”** The orcs on either side of him laughed with him, deep, rough laughs.

“Okay.” Masha nodded, but took another step back.

Two orcs from either side of him waked forwards, grabbed the attacker by each shoulder and hauled him to his feet. He spit curses and insults non-stop as they drug him away and around the corner of the nearest alley. 

Their apparent leader stepped closer, almost right in front of her now. **“Are you okay?”** He relaxed his shoulders when she nodded, **“What’s your name.”**

Her eyes darted from him to the two remaining orcs at his sides. “Masha.”

“Masha. How long have you been in the states Masha?”

She couldn’t help but stare at the scars that covered the entire right side of his face. “Four…um _months. Four months.”_

**“Looks like you can handle yourself just fine, but if you need help… or get into any trouble again, tell them you’re friends with me. Dorghu. Me and my family will watch out for you if you need us to.”** When she didn’t say anything, the orc leader, Dorghu, asked in her own language, _“Understand?”_

She nodded, the gun finally hung limp at her side, her finger rested above the trigger not on it. “Yes. Dorghu. Who is your… family?”

He pointed to a patch on his jacket, “Fogteeth.”

She repeated the word in Russian, _“Fogteeth.”_

Dorghu nodded, **“You know how to use that?”** He nodded in the general direction of the handgun.

Masha smiled, a crooked, snarky grin with narrowed eyes to match. With ease and sure hands she held the gun up between them, muzzle pointed across the street and up towards the sky. She dropped the magazine from the gun, caught it in her left hand, aimed the gun at a streetlight to her left, squeezed off the round she had chambered. Glass shattered to the ground and sparks flew as the light bulb exploded. She turned back to Dorghu, slammed the magazine back into the grip and racked the slide as she had before to chamber a round. She flipped the safety on with her thumb and smiled, “I know enough.”

Dorghu looked over his shoulder to his friends and nodded, all chuckling. “Yes you do.” He turned back to Masha, “Get home safe.”

Masha gave a small smile and nodded. She walked down the street and made the corner, never quite comfortable enough to turn her back on the group of orcs.

Back around the corner Dorghu turned to his boys, the sounds of body blows and grunts echoed from the alley behind them, **“Follow her, carefully. Make sure she gets home. I want to know where she lives and where she works.”**

**“Sure Boss.”** The two orcs took off the way Masha had went, at a much more leisurely pace.

~~~~~~~

The next evening, around the same time, the same two orcs lumbered into a large dive bar in their neighborhood. They made their way through the bar towards the office in the back. The taller of the two straightened his jacket and knocked on the door.

**“It’s open.”** Dorghu sat in an over sized leather chair behind an old metal desk. “Tolar, Cotton.” The clan leader threw his cell phone down on the desk, watched as it slid across a stack of papers.

**“We followed that girl, the little Russian one from last night.”** Tolar, the one with the jacket stepped further into the office. **“Lives in that apartment building over on VIsta Mar. Works in some little chain gym a few streets from here.”**

**“Teaches some sort of classes. Was there most of the day.”** The smaller orc pulled the gold chain out from under his shirt.

_“I teach several classes, kickboxing, yoga, cycling, krav-maga.”_ The three orcs startled at the sound of Mashas voice from down the hall. She appeared in the door, still in her gym clothes, duffle bag over her shoulder, _“Maybe I should teach class on stalking as well.”_

Dorghu looked from her to his two soldiers, rolled his eyes and then growled, “You two, out, now!” They did as they were told and walked out the door, past Masha. Dorghu shook his head then waved her in. _“How long did you know they were following you.”_

_“Last night.”_ Masha crossed her arms over her chest. _“Why?”_

**“You handled that orc last night pretty well. Part of me wanted to make sure you made it home safe, part of me wanted to know where a girl like you learns to fight like that.”** He paused for a moment. _“Understand?”_ When she nodded he continued, **“You said you taught some fighting at the gym, that where you learned?”**

Masha shifted her weight from one hip to the other, “My brother. He fights MMA. I learn from him.”

Dorghu nodded, rocked back in his chair. “He taught you well.” He watched her nod and stare back at him, icey blue eyes narrow and unwavering. “How much you make there?”

Her eyes squinted, “Money?”

He nodded, **“How much do they pay you?”**

“Enough.”

Dorghu grabbed a pack of cigarettes off the desk and lit one, then held it towards Masha who shook her head. **“We can pay you better.”**

Her eyes remained narrowed, beyond skeptical, _“Pay me to do what?”_

**“Don’t worry, nothing bad. Need another bartender, think you would be perfect.”**

_“Why? Because I look good in tight jeans and tank tops?”_ She waved her hand over herself dramatically. 

**“Because I watched you lay out an orc twice your size.”** He stood up from his chair and tood a drag off the cigarette, **“Because you can handle a gun, because you don’t back down.”** He walked up to stand next to her by the office door. **“The fact that you’re attractive is just good for business.”**

Masha stood her ground, stared him down, even though he was a good foot taller than her.

**“I’m sure you could use the extra money, make some friends, learn English.”** He looked down at her, smoke rolled out of his slanted nostrils, “Yes or no, darlin’?”

Masha stood squared up to Dorghu, sized him up, “Yes.”

He nodded, blew another stream of smoke out into the air above her head, “Good. C’mon.” He held his arm out through the office door, “Mikel!” Dorghu ushered Masha out the door and into the main barroom, “Mikel!”

A tall, abnormally lean orc behind the bar looked their way, “Yeah boss.”

**“This is Masha, she’s going to be working here. Her English isn’t so good but she understands Bodzvokhan. Show her what she needs to know.”**

**The orc bartender nodded and came out from behind the bar and shook Mashas hand, “Mikel.”**

****

She took it and smiled up at him, “Masha.”

****

“Nice to meet you. I’ll take care of her boss, get her set up.”

****

Dorghu nodded and turned to Masha, _“Mikel is a good boss, good orc, he will take care of you. You need anything, tell him or one of my guys.”_

****

Her eyes were back to that skeptical glare they’d had a few moments ago. _“You, you don’t own the bar?”_

****

The clan leader chuckled and raised his cigarette to his mouth again, **“I do and I don’t. Stick around, pay attention, you’ll learn a lot.”**

****

Masha nodded and turned to walk with Mikel towards the back room but she stopped and stared at the floor for a minute. Then, she turned back to Dorghu, blue eyes soft once again, “Thank you.”

****

She meant it for both the night before and the job. Dorghu knew that.

****


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  **“This is Orcish.”** and _“This is Russian.”_

Chapter Two

“Hey Masha, how do you make a…” The young orc turned back to the man at the end of the bar, “What did you call it?”

The young man leaned forward, elbows on the bar, “A dirty girl scout.”

Masha turned around from the till and looked from her coworker to the customer, “I’m sorry, a what?”

“A dirty girl scout.”

Masha hated it when random humans wandered into the bar. She exchanged a look with the newest bartender, a pretty young orc girl, who looked just as annoyed. **“A dirty girl scout?”**

**“I have no clue what he’s talking about.”** Nessa shook her head.

Masha knocked the till drawer closed with her hip. “Sorry, I’ve never heard of it. Do you know what’s in it?”

He sat back on a stool, hands flat on the bar, and shrugged. “Um, it’s green and kind of creamy.”

Masha forced a smile and turned back to Nessa, **“Go ahead and go wipe tables down before we get busy. I’ll get this guy.”** Her Bodzvokhan had improved faster than her English over the last year and she found she was more comfortable with it that way. Most of her bar customers were a wide variety as far as race went but Orcish felt more comfortable than her heavily accented English she had to use at the gym. She turned back to the customer, “I’ll see what I can do.” For good measure she threw him a wink and gritted her teeth against the gag in her throat at the way he looked her up and down in response.

She grabbed a bottle of vodka off the shelf behind the bar and a glass, filled it half way then added a splash of apple pucker and carried it to the end of the bar. “Here you go.”

He looked at the glass, turned it around a few times, “This doesn’t look right.”

Masha shrugged, “It’s green.” She had to stifle a chuckle when two orcs at the table behind him broke into laughter.

The young man looked unamused, “You expect me to drink this?”

Again Masha shrugged, ‘It’s better for you than whatever you ordered.” The orcs behind him laughed again.

“You drink it, I’ll just take a beer.” He looked from the orcs behind him to his group of friends at their booth.

“Ok.” Masha grabbed the drink and held it up between them, _“To your health.”_ And tossed it back in one gulp before she went to grab him a beer from the cooler.

She had just handed it to him when the door swung open and two adolescent, male orcs walked in, backpacks slung over their shoulders. The taller of the two called out as he and his friend weaved through the tables, “Hey Masha!”

She turned and smiled, “Mikey. Will. **How was school today?** ” She turned back to the cooler and dug two cans of soda off the bottom shelf.

**“Good, we get a long weekend this weekend!”** Mikey and his friend Will walked around to the far end of the bar, towards their regular stools and dropped their bags on the floor.

“Nice.” Masha handed each of them their soda, “How much homework do you have?”

“Hardly any at all!” Will cracked open his soda.

Masha squinted at the young orc and then turned to Mikey who smiled, **“Means not much.”**

“Oh, ok cool.” She leaned against the bar, “Then get your books out, get to work. Better hurry, we will be busy soon.”

The boys did as they were told and set about their homework. By the time the after work rush started they were down to their last few math problems.

Nessa was busy as she ferried drinks from table to table and brought orders back to Masha behind the bar.

“X equals fourteen and Y equals…two?” Mikey picked his head up from the paper.

Masha turned from the beer she had just pulled from the draft. “Try again.”

After a groan and lots of eraser marks and pencil scratches he tried again, “X is fourteen and Y is five.”

Before Masha could answer Will laughed, “Dude, that’s not even close!”

“Shut up.” The boys got into a shoving match on their stools and Masha snapped at them as she set the beer down in front of a tired looking orc still wearing his green safety vest.

_“Hey! You know what happens to guys that fight in the bar!”_ The boys didn't understand a word but stopped anyway. Masha eyed them dramatically, one eyebrow arched to extreme, “Don’t make me take my earrings out.”

Several of the orcs at the bar laughed at her underhanded threat and the boys finally chuckled a little as well.

“Here. Let me see.” Masha walked over to the end of the bar and through the gap next to the boys so she could look over their shoulder. Her ring heavy fingers hovered over Mikeys sloppy handwriting as she checked his work. “Ah, here. This is where…”

Before she could finish her thought gunshots rang outside followed by shouts and screams. Within seconds a group of orcs crashed through the front doors followed closely by a bunch of Mexican gang members spraying automatic gunfire through the whole building. Masha cursed and grabbed the two young boys by their shirt collars to drag them down and behind the bar with her.

Glass shattered, screams bounced off the walls, curses and threats flew back in forth in Spanish and Bodzvokhan. Masha shoved the boys under the sink and turned to look down the bar, “Nessa!”

The young orc woman had made it behind the bar as well, tray and spilled drinks on the floor in front of her. “Masha! Masha!”

Masha glanced over her shoulder towards the shotgun under the cash register. She would have to leave the boys to grab it, **“Stay here! Low! Keep your heads down! Nessa! Stay where you are!”** Just as she made to crawl further down the bar, the gunfire slowed, the yells ceased, all that was left was a few female screams and the occasional deep, orcish growl.

A moment later a deep voice called out, **“Is everyone okay!?”**

Masha looked from Nessa to Mikey and Will, “Stay down.” Slowly she stood up to a crouch and grabbed the shotgun before stretching up to peer over the bar. **“Is it safe?”**

**“Yes. They’re done. It’s safe.”**

Masha still motioned for the three behind the bar to stay down but she stood up, her thumb hovered over the hammers of the old double barrel twelve gauge. Her eyes surveyed the damage, all through the bar orcs and humans stood up, out from under pool tables and booths, glass covered the floor as did a few gang bangers. “ _Holy shit._ What the hell was that?”

The orc in the middle of the room stood with a pistol hung loose in his right hand, “Alta Mira. Chased some of ours in off the street.”

That was when she noticed the three orcs behind one of the pool tables, all in Fogteeth cuts, that had not been in the bar before the shots started.

One crouched over the orc next to him, massive hand clamped over his friends leg. **“Where is Mikel?”**

**“He’s, he’s not here. It’s just me and Nessa.”** Masha moved her thumb away from the guns hammer but did not put it down. “Why?’

“Marcus took one.”

Masha’s stomach turned, “Shit.” She crouched back down behind the bar and grabbed Mikey by the collar of his hoodie, “You, Will and Nessa go in the office and lock the door.” She turned to Nessa and then back to Mikey, **“Do not open the door for anyone! Except me or your father.”** Masha turned back to Nessa and shoved the shotgun into her hands, “Just in case.”

The young orc nodded and ushered the boys in front of her back towards the office.

Masha didn’t move until she heard the door slam and the lock click. Then she grabbed the first aid kit from under the register and vaulted over the bar with ease. She spared a second to be grateful for her athleticism before she jogged across the floor, dodging toppled chairs and still cowering customers to come to a sliding stop next to the orc on the ground. At the site of his blood soaked leg she covered her mouth with the back of her hand to compose herself. After a deep breath she looked to the orc in the jersey, still in front of the door, gun in hand. “ _Get a phone and call Dorghu._ Now!”

Whether he actually understood the Russian or not, Masha didn’t know but she assumed he could figure out what she meant by ‘Dorghu’ and ‘now’ pretty easily. So, she turned her attention to the wounded orc. “What’s your name? Marcus?” She looked to his two friends that nodded. “Okay,” She flung open the larger than usual box of medical supplies, her eyes still fixed on the blood as it oozed out from under Marcus’s friends fingers.”Umm... **“Cut open his pant leg.”**

The other orc dug in his pocket and flicked open a knife that was a little larger than necessary but it would certainly handle the job.

Masha’s hands fumbled slightly over the contents of Mikels first aid kit. _“What the fuck do you think you’re gonna do, huh Masha?”_ She mumbled to herself as she ripped open a package of gauze pads. _“Move your hands.”_ Again she didn’t know if they understood her but she assumed her hands shoving theirs away made her point. As carefully and quickly as she could she wiped at the blood so she could see properly. “Mother fucker.” There were two holes and blood oozed from both. The orc, Marcus, snarled as she wiped at the blood again and one of his buddies had to push him back down to lay flat. _“Shit, shit, umm. Go grab that chair and bring it over here.”_

When none of them moved she snarled a little herself, **“Chair. Bring the chair!”**

She held the gauze to the wounds with one hand and ripped open a packet of alcohol wipes with her teeth and other hand. Masha did her best to ignore the growls and roars from Marcus as she swiped and scrubbed at the wounds until they were relatively clean.

Above them the orc in the jersey appeared, “Dorghu is on his way.”

“Good.” Masha mumbled more to herself. “Here, you, what’s your name?”

“Ryon.”

“Okay, Ryon, you hold these. Here. Yes.” She grabbed his hands and pressed them back to the gauze covered wound. The white gauze already showed blood beginning to seep through. “Fuck, fuck, fuck. Okay.” She dug through the kit and yelled, “Yes!” through gritted teeth when she came across a tactical tourniquet. “Okay, **You put his foot up, on the seat of the chair. We need to keep it raised.** ” The other orc in the hoodie and leather Fogteeth cut did as he was told. **“Now come, hold his shoulders.”** She took a deep breath, **“Okay, Marcus,”** She looked the wounded orc in the eye for the first time as she pulled open the tourniquet and wrapped it around the back of his leg. Masha shook her head slightly as she fastened it high on his thigh, a few inches above the bullet wounds, **“I’m sorry.”**

With that she pulled as hard as she could on the tail end of the tourniquet and cinched it tight. Marcus roared and flailed but she absorbed the blows as best she could while she tightened the tourniquet further, each twist of the small rod on the side, cinched it tighter and pulled another growl from Marcus. When she could tighten it no more she locked it in place and held her hands up as she rocked back on her heels, _“Okay, okay, it’s done. I’m done.”_

Ryon slowly pulled his hand away with the gauze and sighed with relief to see the bleeding had slowed. He nodded to Masha and to the rest of the onlookers, before he gave Marcus a good thump on the chest, **“You’re gonna be okay, brother.”**

**“He needs a doctor.”** Masha held her hands up at an awkward angle, trying to avoid spreading any more blood on her clothes.

Ryon nodded, “He’ll get one.”

Masha nodded, slouched back further onto her heels and let out a shaky breath.

“Hey,” Ryon ducked his head to meet her eye, “Thanks. You did good.” But, all Masha could do was nod and try to catch her breath.

~~~~~~~

Some surprisingly short time later Dorghu and two others burst through the door. He immediately came to a stop in front of one of the gang members sprawled out on the floor of the bar, bloody and lifeless. **“Brown piece of shit.”** He stepped over the body and scanned the room, **“Where’s my son?”**

Masha stood up from where she leaned against a pool table, her face still pale and her hands still bloody. _“He’s in the office. With Will and Nessa.”_ Her voice was a strange combination of soft and raw and her eyes were damp in the corners when she looked up at him.

Without a word Dorghu marched towards the back rooms.

_“Nessa has a shotgun. Be careful.”_ Masha called over her shoulder.

Dorghu half-halted, nodded over his shoulder, then continued on his way. At the door of the office he stood to the side and pounded on the door. **“Mikey! It’s me, open up!”**

After a short scuffle behind the door it swung open, “Dad!” Mikey appeared in the hall and wrapped himself around his father.

Dorghu caught him easily and tucked him under his arm. A second later he held his other arm out and circled it around Will “Come on.” He walked back into the center of the bar and came to a stop, about to speak when one of the orcs that arrived with him came back through the front door.

“Boss, over the radio, cops are comin’.”

Dorghu stood silent for a moment and then nodded. “Ok. Everyone that wants out get out. Tolar, take the boys, put them in the truck. You two,” He pointed at Ryon and the other orc that had come in with Marcus, “You’re still on parole, get the fuck out of here.”

With some hesitation they did as they were told and filtered out the back door with everyone else.

“Nessa, Ryon and Darren will make sure you get home, you don’t need to be here.” Dorghu finally turned to Masha then. Her, Marcus and his handful of guys were all that remained. _“Are you going to be able to handle this?”_ He nodded to Marcus who was handing his pistol over to a clan mate. “He’s clean, but you need to be able to talk to the cops, tell them as little as possible, but enough to get them out of here without taking any of my guys with them. Understand?”

“I’m fine.” Masha nodded, “Go. I promise.”

Dorghu eyed her cautiously, looked her up and down. “Okay.” Just like that he waved to his men and they left. Then it was just Masha leaned against the pool table covered to her elbows in Marcus’s blood and Marcus laid out on the floor panting softly and groaning through the pain.

~~~~~~~

Masha stood in the back kitchen, several hours later, elbow deep in soap and hot water as she tried to scrub the blood off her arms. A soft knock on the wall behind her startled her, she sloshed water out of the sink onto her shirt and cursed.

“Sorry.” Dorghu’s heavy frame filled the entryway. His eyes scanned over her head to toe, “How did it go?”

She grabbed a bar towel and wiped off her arms, the white cloth came away pink. _“Fine. Cop that interviewed me was an asshole, but your guy got took to the hospital. Didn't sound like he was in a lot of trouble. Nothing they could prove at least.”_

Dorghu nodded, hands shoved in the front pockets of his jeans.

With a shaky breath Masha dropped the towel on the counter and stood up straight. “Dorghu, I… I’m sorry, Mikey shouldn’t have been here. _He likes to come and do his homework here, I help him, he’s been helping me with my English. It’s usually so quiet here, I didn’t think it was a big deal! I’m truly sorry._ ” Her voice was as unsteady as her breath and her knuckles were white from her grip on the edge of the metal counter.

He didn’t say anything for a second just looked her over again. “I tracked down Mikel, he’s gonna get some guys in, clean up. You come with me.” He turned and headed back to the front of the bar.

Masha drew in a long, still unsteady breath, knocked her knuckles against the counter twice and followed after him. More to delay the inevitable than anything she ducked into the office and grabbed her gym bag and slung it over her shoulder. Out in the main barroom Mikel came up to her, “Hey, you did good girl.” He squeezed her shoulder tightly, “You did good.” With one last squeeze he ushered her towards the front door.

It was dark outside, that’s how long it had taken to get the cops cleared out. Normally this would be the busiest part of her Friday night.

Dorghu stood next to a blacked out Tahoe, one arm resting through the open window of the passenger door. He jerked his head towards the door and held it open, “Get in.”

She didn’t know what was about to happen or what else to do, so she complied, slid into the seat with her bag on her lap and stared at the floor while Dorghu shut the door and walked around to the drivers side.

Neither of them said a word while he drove through the neighborhood. Until he pulled up to an auto shop with graffiti across all the doors. “C’mon.” Dorghu shut the SUV off and slid out the door, the suspension dipped slightly out from under his weight.

Masha opened her own door and slid out, sure to sling her bag across her shoulders again. She followed him through the office door he unlocked, through the dark office, a break room and a short dark hallway. Her teeth clinched as she followed, unsure of what to do.

There was noise from inside the shop, and fluorescent light leaked under the door at the end of the hall.

In front of her Dorghu pushed the door open with one hand and stood aside, “Go ahead.”

The noise was louder and as she stepped through the door she could see several men, both orcs and humans, at work on cars. Grinders threw sparks, impact wrenches knocked and whined. Masha heard the door close behind her and Dorghu walk up behind her. She turned over her shoulder, “Little after regular business hours isn’t it?” She knew a chop shop when she saw one.

It looked like he almost cracked a smile but not quite, “Wait here.” He walked across the shop to a smaller orc with his head under the hood of a grey Beamer with a soft top.

Masha watched as they spoke but couldn’t hear the conversation. Eventually the other orc, his skin darker for the grease smudged everywhere, pointed to the far end of the shop and nodded.

Dorghu went off in the direction the orc had pointed and came back a few minutes later. He came to stand in front of her face to face, or face to chest rather. He looked down at Masha and her still obviously nervous face. “Mikey told me everything.”

She shrunk an inch or two, “Dorghu, I’m so sorry.”

**“For what? You didn’t start shit with the gang bangers, you didn’t shoot Marcus, you didn’t trash the bar.”** Dorghu ducked his head to one side to make her look at him. **“You handled the police. You kept Marcus alive. You protected my son.”**

Masha stared at him wide eyed and open mouthed.

Dorghus one good ear twitched slightly, she wouldn't have noticed if she had not been staring so intently in shock. He reached into his jacket pocket and held out his hand. “Here. I don’t want you walking to and from your jobs in the dark anymore.” In his palm was a set of car keys, **“It’s nothing fancy, just an older Mustang none of us can fit into.”** He chuckled slightly and extended his hand out further with a nod.

Unsure what to say she took the keys and did her best to avoid contact with his skin.

His hand reached behind him, now that she had the keys firmly clenched in her fist, and pulled a small pistol from a back pocket. **“I want you to carry this too. Just in case.** It’s smaller, easier to keep on you than that big Glock you keep in your bag.”

She swallowed and reached out with her other hand to take the pistol. Her eyes looked it over carefully before they settled back on Dorghu. He was full of surprises tonight.

With a deep breath he nodded, “Go ahead and head home. One of the guys will get your car out for you.” Dorghu turned to leave back through the door they had came in.

Finally, Masha found her voice again, “The boys. They are okay then?”

Dorghu stopped and turned around, hand still on the door knob. His sharp eyes darted to the small, grease covered orc as he approached and then back to Masha. _“Scared but okay.”_ He took a deep breath, chest and shoulders expanded to the point that his leather jacket creaked with the motion. _“Thank you Masha.”_ He didn't wait for her to say anything back, simply turned the door knob and left.


	3. Chapter 3

Masha locked her car door and bumped it shut with her hip. It only half closed and she grumbled as she switched her gym bag from one shoulder to the other. She hit the door again, harder this time. The sun was just about ready to go down and she enjoyed the last bit of warmth on her face as she walked from the parking lot, down the alley, to the back door of the bar.

It was unlocked so she let herself in. There was music on the jukebox but it was turned down low. She walked through the kitchen, nodded to the boys hard at work to get food ready for the party. 

One of the guys turned around, “Hey Masha, here, try.” He sliced off a piece of the meat that had been cooking all day and held it out to her on the knife.

She leaned forward and carefully pulled it off with her teeth. It was hot but delicious. “Mmm, Georgie how the hell are you still single?”

The older orc smiled with the few crooked teeth he still had left, “Just waiting for you to say yes girly.”

Masha hiked her bag up higher on her shoulder and laughed, “I’ll think about it. Promise!”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah, that’s all you ever say!” Georgie and the others laughed as Masha went on through the kitchen to drop her bag in the office. She registered voices out in the bar but didn’t pay much mind, just went on into the office to hang up her bag.

When she did head out into the bar she saw Dorghu and two of his guys in a table across from two tatted up Mexicans. Of its own accord her hand drifted to the the back of her jeans and settled on the grip of her pistol tucked in the holster on her studded belt.

One of the orcs saw her and said something to Dorghu when he saw her hand reach for her gun.

Dorghu turned in his seat and saw her as well, “ _Devochka._ **It’s ok, it’s business, just talking.** ” 

One of the gangbangers stood up, “Hey man, what’s this bitch think she doing here?”

Dorghu stood up and placed himself between the Mexican and Masha, “She works here. She was working when your homies came in here last spring and shot shit up. Forgive her for being a little distrusting.” His voice was low and calm but still a threat. When the other man calmed down, Dorghu turned to Masha and in the same tone of voice said, **“Go, wait in the office.”**

Masha let her hand fall back to her side and nodded.

She sat in the over sized chair and spun circles for a very long time before Dorghu came through the door. She stopped and looked up at him, moved to stand up but he held out his hand, “Stay.” he came up to stand across the desk from her, “Give me the gun.”

Masha pulled the gun and holster free from her belt and handed it to him grip first, without question.

He took it and walked around the desk to the safe in the back corner, “No guns at the parties. You know that.” He opened the safe and placed the gun inside, looked straight at her while he locked it up.

“I know. Habit I guess.” She leaned her elbows on the heavy metal desk, “What were they doing here.”

Dorghu turned to face her again, arms crossed over his barrel chest, “Is that something you think you need to know?”

Masha dropped her eyes to the ground and nodded, “You’re right, not my place. I’m sorry.” She pushed the chair back and stood up, “I’ve got to go get ready for the party.”

Before she even made it to the door Dorghu stopped her, _“Devochka…”_ he relaxed his stance, “Their leader got shot, run down the other day, he’s in the hospital, won’t walk again.” He moved to sit in the chair Masha had vacated while she stood by the door. The chair groaned a little under his weight, “They’re scared, vulnerable, scrambling to cover their ass.”

She nodded, “And you’re taking advantage?”

Dorghu huffed out a breath meant to be a laugh, relaxed more heavily in his chair, “I prefer to call it a temporary truce.” He looked at her out the corner of his eye.

Masha nodded, relaxed a little herself. She moved to open the door but stopped, “It was you guys, put their boss in the hospital?” She turned back to Dorghu, “You wouldn’t sit down with them otherwise.”

This time he really did chuckle while he reached in his jacket for a pack of smokes. “You’re too smart for your own good, you know that?”

Masha smiled at him, hard blue eyes peeked out from under her bangs, “You were the one that told me to pay attention and learn something.” With that she walked out the door and left it open behind her, fully aware of Dorghus eyes on her as she walked away.

~~~~~~~

The music vibrated through her ears, throat and chest, the bar was filled with multi-colored lights and thick smoke. Masha glanced around the bar once and took advantage of the lull to hop up on the back bar and sit with her glass of vodka and Sprite. She sat and watched the party around her, relaxed and happy. It was always loud and a little rowdy but she found these parties oddly calming. Something about a group so dangerous and rough being so relatively tame for one night.

Lacee came back from delivering a round of drinks and slid back behind the bar. She set the tray down and came to stand next to where Masha sat, used the mirror to fix her ponytail. “Is it always like this?”

“Hmm?” Masha swallowed another sip, “The party? Yeah, they don’t get too crazy. Just the guys blowin’ off steam.”

“Cool.” Pleased with her hair Lacee stepped back from the mirror. “What else you need me to do?” Lacee was knew and so far had made a very good impression.

Masha held up her glass, “Pour a drink, have a smoke, relax.” She chuckled and took another sip. “Tonight’s easy money, enjoy it.”

Lacee smiled and took the advice. She was busy making herself a drink when Masha jumped off the bar in a flourish.

“Hey! I was wondering where the hell you were!” Masha set her drink down and bounced over the bar in one hop to wrap Nessa in a hug.

“I know, I know,” The orc girl ducked her head and fidgeted with one of her dangle earrings, “I kinda got distracted.”

Masha stepped back, eyed her friend suspiciously, “Distracted? By what?” As soon as the question left her mouth Masha caught on. A very tall, thick, familiar orc in a hoodie, leather cut and cap walked up next to Nessa. “Or should I say by who?” Masha took a step back and crossed her arms, eyebrow in her best Russian arch of suspicion. “Hey Tolar, good to see you brother.”

Nessa ducked her head again but couldn't remove the smile from her face, especially when Tolar wrapped an arm around her and pulled her against his side. “Good to see you too girly.” He leaned down to Nessas ear, “I gotta go say hi to Dorghu. Be right back ‘kay babe?”

She nodded and did her best to avoid eye contact as Tolar gave Masha a quick hug on his way by.

Once he was gone, Masha stared her friend down. “And how long has that been a thing?”

Nessa leaned against the bar, “Not, uh not all that long.” She stifled a giggle, “I’m sorry sweetie, I know I should’ve have told you but I just, got so wrapped up and you’re always working…”

Masha smiled and nudged closer to the bar next to her friend, ignoring the jostling from a group standing behind her. “I know. He good to you?”

Nessa lost it then, the smile broke through and the asymmetrical line of pink that crossed her face showed the slightest blush, “So good. Masha, I know it’s stupid and just been a little while but, you know. It feels good. I mean, I know he’s clan so, who knows but, it’s good, really good.”

The look on her face said it all and Masha pulled her into another one armed hug. “Good, that means we can celebrate!” With a wink Masha climbed back across the bar and pulled down a bottle of tequila. “Lacee, grab us some shot glasses!”

The three of them gathered around the bottle and three sloppily poured shots for a toast. Three rounds of shots later Nessa shook her head, “What the hell are you trying to do? Get me drunk?” Her voice was filled with laughter and her eyes were neon yellow.

Masha laughed and slammed her empty glass back on the bar, “What are you bitchin’ about? You got a big, strong, man to get your ass home tonight, all I got is an old car that doesn’t always start on the first try!”

The girls dissolved into laughter, until Lacee had to fetch another bottle for a customer at the bar. Nessa leaned across the bar, ready to whisper something in Masha’s ear but Lacee came back quickly and she changed her mind.

Lacee leaned next to Masha again, “Hey, those guys said Dorghus table needs another round.”

Masha grabbed her Sprite and vodka off the back bar and nodded, “Ok. Better grab ‘em a Vodka, top shelf on the right, anything but Veil. Then probably a couple of Jack and one of the Makers bottles too.” When the other bartender didn’t move Masha arched her eyebrow and shook her bangs to the side, “What?”

“I’m sorry but he scares the livin’ shit out of me.” Her voice was a quiet whisper, for fear of one of the clan overhearing her.

“Oh, for fucks sake.” Masha shook her head and set her drink back down, “Look, I get it, but you’re gonna have to get over that.” She moved around Lacee and collected the bottles herself to take to the back booth.

While she waded through the party, bottles gripped by the necks, the music changed. Heavy, ear ringing metal was suddenly quieted as one song ended and was replaced by the beginning of another, “Peace up, A-town down.” Masha froze in place as did most of the crowd.

She heard one of the orcs closest to her mumble, **“The fuck is this shit?”**

For a moment Masha worried someone was about to get the shit beat out of them, but then two women clambered up onto one of the pool tables. Very drunk and scantily dressed, they started doing their best stripper impressions and suddenly all was forgiven. Every male in the bar let out a cheer and the party jumped back into full swing.

Masha couldn’t help but laugh and even danced a little herself as she continued her way through the crowd.

The atmosphere towards the back of the bar was much more reserved. Tables and booths were filled with men in clan colors, a few woman both orc and human, scattered among them and being appropriately friendly. In the corner booth Dorghu and some of higher ups sat, empty bottles and a collection of glasses littered the table. Dorghu sat in the very corner of the booth, an orc lady with gold earrings and a mesh top on one side and a curvy woman with tan skin and dark hair on the other. Masha rolled her eyes subtly at the way the latter was doing her best get into his lap. He sat with one arm along the back of the bench while the other hand rested on the table, fingers wrapped loosely around a half empty glass of whiskey.

Masha held up her handfuls of liquor bottles, **“Gentleman.”** Her eyes bounced to each of them, paused longest on the one sat to Dorghus left, **“Marcus, how are you brother?”**

The orc nodded, the bill of his cap blocking his eyes for second, **“Hey beautiful, I’m doing pretty good right now.”** His left arm hung over the shoulders of a female orc, his fingers toyed with the ends of the girls head scarf. **“You?”**

The bottles clunked and clinked together a she set them down on the table, **“Keeping busy, keeps me out of trouble.”** She cracked open the tops of the bottles and slid them towards the middle of the table, collecting the caps in one hand.

Marcus and a few of the clan bloods laughed. He pulled the girl tighter against him, **“I Don’t believe that for a second.”** They all laughed again. Except for Dorghu.

His eyes were hard, intent, his jaw set, all of his attention on Masha and none on the women beside him.

Masha took a step back from the table, hip cocked. _“Everything good boss?”_

His eyes jumped a little when she switched from Orcish to Russian.

_“You want something better?”_ She didn't mean it to sound quite the way it came out, blame it on the three shots of tequila, but at least it got him to crack a crooked smirk.

The hint of a smile softened his stare, but only just. _“I’ll come find you when I do.”_

She smirked a little as well, partly at what he said and part at the lost expressions on everyone else’s faces. _“Yes sir.”_ She turned her attention to the rest of the table, “Let me know if you need anything boys.” With a wink Masha turned back towards the crowd, just in time to see Tolar climb onto one of the other pool table and rip his shirt off Hulk Hogan style, with a roar and a cheer from the crowd. Masha looked up at the ceiling for a second and then back to Dorghu. “You want me to get him down from there?”

Dorghu looked at Tolar, one of his toughest soldiers and shook his head for a minute, “Cotton, go drag that shitheads ass over here, and do something about that fucking music..”

Cotton slid out of the booth to do as he was told. Masha excused herself, stifling her laughter best she could as she watched Tolar gyrate, bare chested, to the hip hop music still playing.

Never a dull moment around these guys.

~~~~~~~

The next morning Masha stood in the corner of the gym by the exercise bikes, sucking in air and water between early morning cycling and her next cross fit class. She was tired and a little hungover but a good workout always went a long way to make her feel alive again. Before she could finish her water bottle there was a commotion out by the front desk so she headed that way.

What she found was Dorghu and two of his guys walking through the front door. “Jesus Christ.” She jogged to the counter where the girl working the desk was having a serious panic attack. “What the fuck is going on here?”

The receptionist started babbling but Masha cut her off before her hysterics drew more attention. Luckily early Sunday morning wasn't the busiest so she cut her off mid-rant. “It’s fine I got it. I got this.” Masha was furious when she stalked up to the clan leader. “Get the hell out of here. Now.”

The soldiers on either side of him stepped up but he waved them off. “We need to talk.”

“Jesus Christ.” She was at a loss, paced the entryway for a moment. “Fine, get rid of them and come with me.”

Dorghu looked her over then turned back to his men, **“Wait in the car.”**

She didn't wait, she just grabbed him by the front of his jacket and drug him back to the break room and locked the door behind them. “What in the actual fuck do you think you are doing here?”

“I told you, We need to talk.” Dorghu looked down at the hand she still had clutching the front of his jacket.

“What is so important you had to come here? In broad fucking daylight.” Masha let go of his jacket and stepped back.

He cocked his head from side to side, eyed her for a second before he reached into his jacket and pulled up a folded piece of newspaper. Handed it over, “Need you to look for someone for me. Lady reporter.”

Masha took the page and looked at it. “Why you want her? This article isn't anything bad, think you and your boys would appreciate some good publicity for a change.” She handed it back, “And for that matter, I’m not one of your fucking boys. You can’t just barge into my work like this and give me orders. If they find out I work for you guys too I could lose my job. Or worse!”

Dorghu walked forward, straight into her personal space and further until he had her backed up against the wall. He slammed his hands flat against the wall on either side of her head and got right in her face. His snarl was low and harsh, “And what the fuck makes you think you get to talk to me like that?’ He looked over her face, it stared right back up into his, blue eyes glared right back at him, bangs brushing against her eyelashes. He inhaled, scenting the air and then looked her face over again. “You aren't scared.

Masha smirked, still glaring up at him through her bangs and eyelashes, _“Is that what you want? Me to be afraid of you?”_

He leaned down, closer, to put his face millimeters away from her lean, pale neck. He scented her again and hummed when he felt and smelled the vibration roll through her. “No.” Dorghu chuckled and drug his nose the length of her neck, close but never touching. “That’s what I want.”

Masha dropped her head back against the wall and breathed heavily. _“Why?”_

Dorghu pulled back from her neck but kept his face an inch from hers, **“Why what?”**

She looked back at him, _“Why do you want to see this reporter?”_

**“Why don’t you speak your own language as much as you used to?”** It was obvious his question threw her for a loop and he chuckled, **“Hadn't heard you use it for a long time until last night.”**

Still confused she fidgeted against the wall, _“Dorghu, why do you want to see this reporter lady?”_ She repeated herself, suddenly very aware of his breath on her face.

**“Nothing bad, I just want to talk with her.”** He straightened his arms out against the wall, put some distance between them, gave her some room to breath.

To his surprise she took a step forward and closed the distance again. _“Promise.”_

Dorghu looked directly down at her again, **“I promise.”**

Her eyes drifted to his chest, to the necklace that hung around his neck and then over to the patches on his leather. Reminders of how dangerous he and his clan were. Masha examined his face closely. His threats had been hollow, he hadn't touched her once, just a show of force. She stared into his golden eyes, read him the best she could and then nodded, _“Okay, I’ll find her. You need to get out of here, they probably called the cops already. I’ll cover for you guys. Go.”_

He nodded, his expression unchanged. Dorghu bent his arms slightly again, brought his temple down against hers so that his mouth came to rest by her ear. “Thank you, _Devochka_.”


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a short chapter because the next one is going to be longer and... interesting... lol Plus I seriously need to finish the last chapter of Blood & Bylines and this story is very distracting!  
> As always **"This is what Orcish looks like."** and _"Words that look like this are Russian."_

Chapter Four

The bar was empty when she got to work that evening except for Mikel in the office. “Hey girly, How was the party last night? Any trouble.”

Masha hung her gym bag up on it’s regular hook and stretched her shoulders, “Nah, just a little dancing on the tables.”

“I always miss the good stuff.” He looked up from the till count from the day shift, “You alright on your own tonight? Other two girls apparently still aren't feeling real good.” They both chuckled and he sat back to watch Masha stretch some more, “You sure you’re good?” He scratched at his lip between his tucks.

“Hmm? Yeah, just sore. Long night, long day at the gym, I’ll be ok. Anything I need to know?”

“Nope easy night. I’ll be in here for awhile if you need anything.” Mikel went back to his money and Masha headed out to the bar.

Less than an hour later the bar only had a handful of orcs at the counter. Masha stood, leaned back against the coolers and chatted with them until two clan guys and Dorghu came through the front door. Dorghu raised his voice, **“Everyone out!”** The customers did as they were told, finished their drinks in one gulp, threw some cash on the counter and left. Dorghu came to the end of the bar and looked over his shoulder to his men, **“Mikel is in the office, he’ll get you what you need.”**

Once the main room was empty Dorghu walked behind the bar and right up to Masha. Her eyes followed his men down the hall until she couldn't see them, then she looked to the clan leader, “What’s goin’ on?”

“More Mexican shit.” He looked her up and down, moved in front of her and braced his hands on either side of her, against the counter.

“So I found an email address for the reporter,” Masha started.

He shook his head slowly, **“Don’t care right now.”** Then leaned down to press his nose against the soft flesh under her ear and inhale.

Masha let a gasp escape and clamped her eyes shut, angry with herself. The gasp was nothing compared to the shiver that went down her spine when he moved his hands from the counter to her waist. His weight that he had been holding up sagged against her and pushed the air from her lungs. _“What are you doing?”_

He pulled back to look her in the eye, one of his fingers slipped under the hem of her t-shirt and rubbed against her side, **“What I should have done this morning.”** His eyes dropped down to look at her lips and then back to her eyes, **“Unless you tell me not to.”**

Her eyes bounced around, everywhere but his face, for a second she stared at the patches on his jacket again. Carefully she wrapped her left hand around one side of the jackets zipper and met his gaze as she gave it the smallest tug. 

His lips curled into a smile and he grabbed one of her hands, brought it up to his face and rested the pad of her thumb against one of his slanted tusks, **“Careful.”** With that he leaned in the small distance and covered her lips with his own. 

For a second they stayed still, but then Masha laid her hand flat against his jaw, her thumb still against his tusk rubbed from the tip, to where it protruded from his lip and then back to the point. Dorghu growled low in the back of his throat then moved his lips over hers, careful not to tilt his head too far and jab her with a tusk.

She hummed and pulled back slightly, her other hand still clenched around his jacket, _“Your guys will be back.”_

Dorghu chuckled, slid his lips over hers again, **“Not until I tell them to come back.”**

“Hmm.” Masha let out a laugh of her own, muffled by their noses pressed against each other. She suddenly felt very small and vulnerable, with his weight pressing her into the counter, his head bent low over hers, his huge hands gripping at her sides.

He must have sensed the change because he leaned back enough to give her some room, pulled his hands from her waist and used them to brace his weight against the bar again.

Masha took a deep breath and relaxed immediately, but didn't let go of his lips, she held onto his bottom one, with her teeth, hard enough that he couldn't pull away completely. Not right away at least. When she did let him go she braced her own hands on the counter behind her, right next to his.

Dorghus eyes traveled up and down her body again, pausing for a second on the rise and fall of her chest. Eventually he winked and yelled over his shoulder, **“Let’s go!”** On his way out from behind the bar he let a hand slide around her hip and across her stomach. His men appeared, each with a large duffle bag, and they left her alone and the bar empty.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Shenanigans at a Fogteeth party.... smut... it's smut... not a lot though just a little lol you've been warned. 
> 
>  
> 
> **"Remember, Bodzvokhan looks like this."**  
>  _"Russian, on the other hand, looks like this."_

Chapter Five

The heavy bag swayed back and forth in front of her as she worked through some jabs and hooks, nice and easy, she threw a kick or a knee every so often as she started to build herself up. She ducked and slipped, threw a few misses on purpose and then went back to the bag working fast. Her focus on keeping her feet light and her hands fast. She kept that up until her heart rate picked up and she was having a hard time catching her breath. That’s when she started pounding at the bag. She put her hips behind every punch and closed her fist on each impact.

It felt great. She had the music cranked up, the gym all to herself, bass reverberated through the open building and it made something in her want to work even harder. The song was almost over and she spent the last thirty seconds driving her knees and elbows into the bag then on the last note she put everything she had into a head kick that had the bag swinging again..

With a smile on her face she kept her feet moving her around the mat in circles and did some shadow boxing to catch her breath and slow her heart rate back down. It wasn’t until she had worked her way back around to face the bag that she saw Dorghu standing a few feet away, watching.

“Holy shit!” She stopped what she was doing and flattened one of her mit covered hands over her still heaving chest. “How long have you been here?”

He chuckled, shouldered himself off the wall he had been leaning on. “Not long _Devochka_.” He walked across the empty gym, arms relaxed at his side, heavy body swayed slightly with each large step he took. “What’re you doin’? Thought you had the night off.” He walked up to the opposite side of the bag and stopped it mid-swing, with one hand.

Masha cocked a hip and sucked in a deep breath before she went about pulling off her mits and unwrapping her hands, “Couldn’t go to sleep, so I figured I’d get a workout in. Relieve a little stress.” She walked a few feet to a bench by the wall and dropped the wraps and gloves onto it. She turned and watched Dorghu stand flat footed and push the eighty pound bag out to arms length with one hand.

“Heh.” He gave the bag an extra push and walked past, letting it swing back behind him. “Guess I prefer to relieve my stress the old fashioned way.” He walked up to her, until he had to drop his chin to his chest so that he could look at her.

She laughed and straightened the waist of her spandex shorts, “What’s more old fashioned than beating the shit out of something?”

Without warning he bent down and wrapped one of his hands around the back of each of her knees and hefted her up. In two easy steps he had her legs wrapped around his waist and her back pressed against the wall. He buried his face against her neck and inhaled, dragging his tusks up and down the side of her neck.

Masha let her hands rest over his shoulders and her head roll to the side. “Oh, that.”

He growled against her neck, worked his fingers in the backs of her thighs. “Mhmm.” He pulled back from her neck and let her slide down the wall far enough that they were face to face. “If you can’t sleep you should come to the party.”

“Are we just gonna skip over the part where I ask how you knew where I was and how you got in here?”

“Yep.” He ducked his head to the opposite side of her neck this time. His mouth worked its way from her collar bone, up to her ear, before eventually his mouth closed over hers.

She groaned into his mouth when his tongue slipped into hers. After a minute she rolled her forehead down against his and pushed him away, “Okay, okay, I’ll go to the party.” She laughed, a little out of breath yet, “But, I gotta clean up here, lock up, shower, change, all that.” She tapped him on the shoulder and he let her down, almost obediently.

He didn’t back away though, kept her body pressed against the wall with his own, his hands low on her hips. The rough palms of his hand caught and scratched against the fabric of her shorts as he rubbed them back and forth. “Okay.” He pressed his forehead down against hers, “Don’t take too long though, otherwise I might have to find a punching bag too.”

~~~~~~~

The hot water soothed her muscles but did nothing for her nerves. The last month had been… interesting and she had a pretty good idea where things were heading. Which she was all for. That didn’t mean the fact he was a dangerous, violent, orc clan leader, that was a foot taller and a hundred pounds heavier didn’t terrify her a little. It excited her too though.

She rinsed her hair out again, ran her hands down the back of her head and neck and, after a pause, down her chest and stomach. Her mind wandered as she rinsed off one last time and continued to do so until she was climbing in the driver’s seat of her car.

Masha had to flip her phone open and scroll down to Tolars message to get the location of the party. She knew the place, Fogteeth used it quite a bit when they were expecting larger than usual turn outs. She dropped the phone in the passenger seat and pumped the clutch a few times before she cranked the ignition and convinced the old car to start.

She enjoyed the drive with the windows down and music turned low, her ears would be ringing soon enough

~~~~~~~

The building looked dilapidated and uninhabitable when she pulled up down the street, but then again so did most of this neighborhood. She locked up her car, shoved the keys deep in her pocket and took off down the sidewalk. Masha stopped at the side door to an old corner grocery with boarded up windows and foreclosure stickers on the door. With a glance around she pounded three times on the boarded up door and waited.

A massive ogre with a man bun and braided goatee swung the door open and glared down at her.

Masha nodded, “Hey Luther, am I in the right place?’

His voice was low and his German accent was about as degraded as her Russian, “Hey Masha, yeah c’mon on in.You got anything you want me to hold on to?”

She stepped up the crumbling step and paused just inside door, “No man, I’m good, just got my keys tonight.”

He nodded his boulder of a head and swung the door closed behind her, flicked the deadbolt closed easily. “Ok, you need a ride or anything you let me know.”

“I know. I’ll see ya later.” Masha smiled and waved as she walked through the empty shelves towards a side door between the walls of coolers. She could just make out the bass line of a metal song as she approached the door. Inside the storage cooler she walked towards a roughly door sized hole in the wall where the music was coming from. Now inside the storage room of the empty building next to the grocery store she pushed another door open and was immediately assaulted with music, lights, smoke and general raucous.

She was barely ten steps in the door when someone threw a heavy arm around her shoulders. Masha instinctively ducked out from under it.

“Hey, easy girl, just me.” Marcus stood beside her, hands up in surrender.

“Shit, sorry.” She gave him a one armed hug as apology which he accepted.

“No worries. The guys said you weren’t gonna be here tonight! Come on, I’ll get you a drink.” He threw the arm back around her shoulder and guided her through the crowd.

Masha looked around, “Did I miss the good part? Looks a little empty.”

Marcus laughed, slapped another orc on the back as they walked past. “The weak ones weeded out a while ago yeah. You know how it is. What you want to drink?”

She looked over the table of booze and plastic cups and pointed to a bottle of Vodka in the middle.

“Seriously, you’re so Russian!” He joked as he grabbed a cup and the bottle, “You want a mixer?”

Unable to help herself she thickened her accent and looked over her shoulder at him coyly, “ _Da_ , more vodka.” They both laughed as he filled her cup and handed it over. She took it and nodded her thanks. “Where is everyone?” The space was still packed but not with any faces she recognized, mostly humans.

Marcus threw his arm back around her shoulder and leaned in close, “C’mon, we’re back here.” When she looked at him he smiled, his upper lip curved so far it caught against the top of one tusk.

“What? What’s that look for?”

“Nothin’, I’m just glad your ass finally showed up so I can quit waiting by the fucking door!” They walked through the crowd, his arm draped over her shoulder and hers wrapped around his back, hand fisted in the side of his leather vest. Once they were through the worst of the crowd she saw a set of metal stairs that led up to an enclosed loft. “C’mon,” He pulled her towards the bottom of the stairs. “All the cool kids are up here.” He nudged her up the stairs ahead of him and then nearly tripped himself on the first stair.

On reflex Masha turned and grabbed at his arm, leaned back to compensate for his extra weight and keep him from falling. Once he got stood back up she looked him in the eye, “How fucking high are you?”

He dissolved into a fit of manly giggles and shook his head, “A lot.”

“Fuck, c’mon, don’t drag me down with you or I’ll beat your ass.” She tugged on his arm and got him started back up the stairs. At the top they were both laughing again and inside the door Marcus tugged her to the left, “Over here”

She followed him through a denser crowd of mostly orcs and a few humans. Towards the back of the room she saw a crowd of familiar orcs, and a few unfamiliar women, sat in a collection of mismatched furniture. The first to acknowledge her was Nessa. She jumped up from Tolars lap and jogged up to Masha to wrap her in a hug, “Hey sweetie, glad you could make it.”

Masha returned the hug and pulled back to see Dorghu eyeing her intently from the couch where he sat. She said her hellos to Tolar and Cotton, the few other guys she recognized and females that hovered around them. Again her eyes drifted to Dorghu and he still stared back at her. His left arm laid on the arm rest, cup of whiskey in hand, and his right stretched along the back of the couch, he had his boots planted on the floor and his knees sprawled open. Everything about him was masculine, especially the way he raked his eyes over her and beckoned her towards him with the hand that gripped the back of the couch. “Come sit.”

She did as he asked and stepped through the center of the group until she stood in front of his couch, painfully aware of everyone watching, especially the two girls that took up the other end of the couch.

Dorghu seemed not to care because he reached out to grab her by the pocket and pull her down on the couch next to him. Right next to him. Against him. He threw his arm back along the couch after she settled and leaned in towards her ear, “Relax, _Devochka_.”

It took her awhile but she did start to relax. Once the conversation around her had picked up again and her friends went back to partying. Masha tipped the rest of her drink back and did her best to ignore the way Dorghu was toying with the cross on her necklace where it hung against the skull and crossbones tank top stretched across her chest. She turned towards him, “I’m going to grab another drink.” She moved to stand up but his arm over her shoulder stopped her, his fingers still busy with the necklace.

**“No, stay.”** He breathed in her ear. His right hand dropped the necklace and he snapped his fingers, “Karina, go grab a bottle of vodka. Some whiskey too while you’re down there.” 

One of the women on the opposite side of the couch stood up and hurried towards the door and Masha turned back to face Dorghu, “I could have got it myself.” 

**“She can get it.”** he picked up the cross again, his knuckles brushed against her breast, **“That’s what girls like her are here for, fetch drinks and suck cock.”**

Tolar, Marcus, Cotton and the other men of the group fell into a fit of laughter, although Tolar earned himself a slap on the back of the head from Nessa. He immediately shifted her closer on his lap and whispered in her ear, something that had her giggling and pulling at his jacket. The woman left at the end of the couch didn’t find it so funny, more than likely hadn’t even understood, and continued to glare at the back of Masha’s head. 

With a glance over her shoulder Masha leaned in to Dorghus ear this time, lips brushing accidentally against the mutilated cartridge, _“Well, the way the one behind me is glaring I think she was hoping she could suck yours.”_

Dorghu’s whole body tensed for a second, his arm pulled Masha tighter against him and he dropped the cross around her neck to paw her breast through her shirt. There was no doubt he had felt, scented, probably even heard Masha’s reaction and he used his hold on her to pull her face against his, **“Want me to send her away?”** His voice was low and raspy, and he could tell it did terrible things to the woman next to him, **“She needs to learn, you’re here with me, she can’t disrespect you like that.”** He pressed his nose to the soft spot behind her ear again, his tusk rubbed against her jaw when he spoke, **“Tell her to leave.”**

Masha mulled over what he said for a moment, felt guilty for considering it, but something came over her and she couldn’t stop herself. She turned her head enough to lock eyes with the glaring woman, “Go with her, grab a bottle of Tequila and some shot glasses.” The woman continued to glare but Masha’s stare was hard and intimidating and finally, with an indigent huff, the woman got up and headed for the door. 

Dorghu chuckled into the side of Mashas neck, **“That’s my girl.”**

~~~~~~~ 

A bottle of tequila and half of a few other bottles later the crowd was well and drunk. The room was mostly empty. Marcus had disappeared earlier with a female under each arm. Cotton was slouched back in his chair with a bottle of whiskey in one hand and a still smoldering blunt in the other. He reached that hand out to Masha, who had to sit up to grab it. 

Masha laid back down, stretched out the length of the couch with her head back in Dorghus lap. She took a drag then settled her hand on her stomach and let the smoke wash over her for a second. She raised it up again but hesitated with it inches from her lips. 

Slowly Dorghu slid his hand up the underside of her arm and into her hand to pluck the blunt from her grip. He met her eyes as he passed it to his other hand so he could set it on the end table by his empty glass. After a second he reached out with his boot and kicked Cotton in the shin. The other orc jumped, eyes glazed over, and looked at his captain. Dorghu nodded towards the door, “Clear everyone out, make sure they get home.” 

Marcus nodded and scrubbed a hand over his face , “Yeah boss.” He hefted himself up out of the chair and straightened his vest and hoodie. As he walked by he kicked Tolar in the foot, “C’mon brother, come up for air. Let’s get everyone out of here.” 

Tolar pulled away from Nessa reluctantly and stood up as well, letting Nessa slide to the floor in the process. 

Still stretched along the couch Masha watched everyone else leave the room, then her eyes jumped to her stomach where Dorghu had just laid his hand. “Ready to go home _Devochka_?” He asked but his hand spread wider over her stomach and slid back and forth, the material of her shirt working up her abdomen in the process. 

“Hmm.” All she could do was hum and stretch a little under his touch. 

“Or are you comfortable where you are?” He laughed under his breath as he slid his hand under her shirt completely. 

She stretched her back again then the cool metal of his rings touched her buzz warmed skin. “Yeah, I’m pretty good right here.” 

“Mhmm…” He increased the pressure as he continued to slide his hand over her tight stomach, fingers dug into the valley between her hip bones, exposed by her low rise jeans. He kept this up for several minutes, over her stomach, hips, barely dipping under her waistband, up her ribs but always stopping a little too soon. Masha wiggled and groaned a little more each time. His eyes were glued to her face, “What’s wrong _Devochka_? Hmm?” He pushed her shirt up further until the very tips of his fingers brushed against her bra. She groaned again and knocked her head back against his thigh. 

Unable to take it anymore Masha wrapped her hand over his and pushed down until both of their hands slipped inside her jeans. His further than hers and he growled when the jeans wouldn’t stretch far enough for him to reach where she obviously wanted him to. He withdrew his hand with a jerk and grabbed at her side, squeezing her soft waist hard. Dorghu felt a vibration roll through his own body when Masha fumbled with her button and zipper. 

He moved his right hand from her waist to her jeans, moved her hands out of the way so that he could pop the button and pull the zipper down. Dorghu didn’t necessarily ask for permission but he took the panting and the arch of her back as all the invitation he need. With one fluid motion he slid his hand the length of her torso and then into her pants. 

The first thing he noticed was that she was completely smooth and the second thing he noticed was that she was soaking wet. “Fuck, how long have you been this wet?” He let his eyes drag over her laid out on the couch next to him, coming to stop and stare at his own dark and mottled hand moving between her legs. 

Masha sighed and crossed her arms over her eyes, rolling her hips with his teasing fingers. “Since you came to the gym.” Her voice was airy and stretched thin. 

“Mmm.” He circled the tip of his finger around her folds, making sure to miss her clit at first, just enjoying the slickness her body had built up. “No wonder you smell so good.” 

She moaned and stretched again, trying her best to put his fingers where she wanted them. In the midst of her writing she reached back and clawed at his thighs, one of her hands drug over the erection just starting to become noticeable through his own jeans. 

Dorghu hissed, jerking his hips and sliding a finger into her easily. Her body arched and then sagged in relief at finally getting what she wanted. As her eyes rolled close and her mouth opened slightly he surrendered and began working the finger inside of her, thrusting it in and out slowly a few times before dragging the length of her slit and over her clit, making her hips buck off the couch, before he repeated the pattern, occasionally curling the digit inside her, dragging the rough pad of it over her inner walls looking for that perfect spot. 

Soon her hips moved faster than his hand and she ground her teeth together, hands still clawing at the his opposite thigh. The word, “More.” fell off her lips and before she could close her mouth again he shoved her pants down further, wrapped his free hand around her wrists and plunged two of his thick fingers into her. Burying them up to the gnarled knuckles and pressing the heel of his hand hard against her clit. 

Mashas backed bowed, lean muscles of her arms pulling against the restraint of his left hand, and for the first time let out a strangled moan that could have been heard by someone besides just the two them. Dorghus cock twitched against the zipper of his jeans but he closed his eyes and focused on the feel of her muscles clenching, her pussy pulsing around his fingers and the sloppy, wet, slap of him finger fucking her. 

He opened his eyes after he had collected himself and let out an open mouthed snarl at the sight of her panting, rubbing her legs together, throwing her hips up trying to rub against his palm each time it came in contact with her clit. **“Tell me what you need baby. Tell me.”**

Her eyes shot open with a gasp, dark blue and needy, as he curled the two fingers inside her. “Fuck. More, I need - need more, please.” Just to see, he pulled his fingers from her pussy, wet and warm, to circle them around and over her clit. Her eyes snapped shut again and she let out a hiss as she rolled her hips,searching for the friction she wanted. 

A wicked smile pulled Dorghus lips up at the corners and he pulled in a deep breath, enjoying the way her scent overpowered everything else in the room. With his right hand, still sticky with her wetness, he shoved and tugged at her jeans and tennis shoes until her legs were free. Then with the hand still holding her wrists he hauled her further up the couch until she sat sideways on his lap. He had to fight his way through her clutching hands to get enough of a hold on her hips to pick her up and spread her legs so she sat straddling him. 

He had to slouch into the sofa slightly to get her where he wanted her and when his hands drug her hips forward that first time, dragging her clit over the hard bulge in his jeans he saw her eyes roll back and felt her nails dig into his shoulders even through his leather jacket. Right away she went to grinding herself against him, hard and fast. He watched her tits bounce under her shirt and the silver cross swing wild with her movements. From the sounds of her voice she was close and fuck if he wasn’t a little worried he was going to come in his pants like some dumb ass teenager. 

With one hand he grabbed the back of her neck and forced her toward him, first into a breathy, open mouthed kiss then back enough that he could bury his face in her neck. He rubbed and bit and licked, paying no mind to the marks he would leave. With the other hand he slid it down the ridge of her spine, through her ass crack and promptly sunk the two fingers still sticky with her juices back into her pussy as far as he could. 

She moaned and ground herself against him three, four, five more times before he felt her tighten around him and at the last second she dropped her head to his shoulder and sunk her teeth into the shoulder of his jacket. Her whole body rolled, every muscle spasmed for a moment until finally she sagged against him, breathing unsteady and completely relaxed. 

Dorghu settled back into the couch, taking a moment to catch his own breath being careful not to breath through his nose. She smelled like him and sex and weed, alcohol, it was very distracting. When she moved to sit up he slid his hands down to rest on her thighs. Her hair was mussed, skin flushed, eyes hooded and a hazier shade of their natural color. He looked over her with a predatory eye and stopped at the side of her neck where his sharp teeth had left red marks from her collar bone to the angle of her jaw. Dorghu added some extra syllables to the, “Fuck.” he muttered under his breath and clamped his hands down on her thighs. “You better get your pants on _Devochka_.” 

He didn’t offer a reason so on wonderfully unsteady legs Masha stood and shimmied back into her jeans, retrieved her sneakers and one sock from the floor and had just made an effort at straightening her hair when Cotton walked back through the loft door. 

“Everyone’s out boss.” Cotton looked from Masha to Dorghu but made no comment. 

Dorghu stood from the couch and wiped his right hand on the front of his jeans, “Good.” He put a hand on Mashas back to nudge her toward the door. “Get some of the prospects in here and clean this shit up first thing tomorrow.” The three of them stood at the top of the stairs. “Make sure she gets to her car.” 

“Yes sir.” Cotton took a step to the side so Masha could go down the stairs first but she stopped and faced Dorghu. 

_“I had fun tonight.”_ She stretched onto her tiptoes, one hand braced on the center of his chest, to nip at lobe of his torn ear and press a quick kiss to his scarred jawline. When she pulled back she let her hand slide down his front to his barely hidden hard on and drug her middle finger the length of it through the denim of his jeans. Dorghu had to grab at the door jam to keep his composure and all she did was wink, smile and say, _“Don’t let me forget I owe you one.”_

The old door frame cracked and creaked in Dorghus grip and Masha just turned and took off down the stairs at her own, annoyingly confident pace. 

Cotton turned to his boss and was immediately met the a glare that warned he may wake up in the trunk of a car if he wasn’t careful. After taking the first few steps Cotton held up both hands in surrender and shook his head, **“I didn’t see shit boss, did not see a thing.”**


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tolar is sometimes referred to as “To” pronounced like Toe.  
>  _Russian looks like this_ and **Orcish looks like this**  
>  This chapter contains some cross over from Blood & Bylines.  
> There be smut. You've been warned.

Chapter Six

Masha hit the unlock button on her new car as she walked up the sidewalk. She still felt out of place behind the wheel of a car so expensive but she had to admit, it was nice and a lot of fun to drive. With a smile on her face she started the engine and reached to put it in gear, but a message tone stopped her hand. Instead she grabbed her phone out of the side pocket of her bag and furrowed her brow when she saw no messages. She dropped her phone in the cup holder and rifled through the back pack to retrieve another, older, cell phone.

A number not in the contacts had sent her a reply - ‘I can be there in an hour.’

Masha nodded to herself and typed out her own response - ‘perfect’. She tossed the phone back into the bag and picked up her real phone once again. With a few taps she pulled up Dorghus number and hit call. When he picked up she skipped hello and simply said, “She’ll be at the bar in an hour.” The conversation ended with that and she dropped the phone in her lap, put the car in drive and left the gym on her way to the bar.

~~~~~~~

The bar was as busy it usually was at 6 pm on Thursday and Masha enjoyed the random conversation she had found herself in with two young, male orcs while Lacee washed glasses down the bar a way. Both of the girls laughed at the punchline of the one orcs story and hadn't stopped for several moments until the door opened and a human woman walked in by herself.

The whole place fell silent and watched her stand at the door and look around, lost and confused. It wasn’t unusual for humans to come into the bar. But this particular one didn’t look like the normal human that did wander into Mikels bar.

Lacee wiped her hands and leaned her elbows on the bar, “Hey sweetie, can we help you?”

The young woman looked around some more, her eyes darted from orc to orc to orc and then turned to look at Lacee, “I hope so, I am supposed to meet somebody here.”  
Lacee looked to Masha who walked down the bar to stand next to her.

One of the orcs at the bar, the only one wearing Fogteeth colors spoke up, **“What the hell is this girl thinking?”**

Masha looked over her shoulder with a harsh glare, **“Drink your beer.”** She turned her attention to the woman, “Who are you meeting?” She was certain she already knew the answer.

The woman shifted under Mashas cold scrutiny, struggled to hold her composure so that she could answer, “I’m sorry, but I’m not sure who I’m meeting. I just know that they wanted to meet here.”

From a pool table towards the back they heard, **“I call dibs if nobody else claims her?”** Followed by a round of rowdy laughter at the woman's expense.

She shifted again but did not retreat, something Masha had to appreciate. With her usual long, smooth stride Masha walked out from behind the bar and bobbed her head, “Ignore them, come with me.” Masha watched as the woman, much younger than herself, walked through the bar. Her eyes darted but her steps were sure and she kept her head up. She was an attractive young woman and looked like what Masha would expect a young, American journalist to look like. Oddly enough. Some of her own doubts faded as the reporter came closer and looked her directly in the eye.

At the front of the building the door opened, several of the gangs enforcers made their way in and filtered to different parts of the bar. The young writer slid to the side as casually as possible, put herself slightly behind Masha. 

Masha’s eyes narrowed and her lips pulled up at one corner. The girl wasn’t frightened of orcs but the gang was a different story. When Dorghu stepped through the door, filled it completely, the girl tensed so much that even Masha, with her very human senses, caught it without even looking her way. “Relax,” She kept her own eyes forward, caught Dorghus across the bar, “They can literally smell fear.” Masha chuckled to herself with a wicked smirk and finally turned back to the girl. “Go and wait, in there.” She pointed to the open office door and waited until the reporter did as she was told.

When Masha turned back Dorghu was there, **“Is that her?”**

**“I believe so.”** She set her eyes squarely on his and waited while he gauged her.

His eyes, ears and nose focused entirely on Masha for a moment, they scrutinized and looked for doubt or uncertainty. When he found none he nodded with a grunt that flared his nostrils. **“Good. Make sure we aren’t disturbed.”**

Masha stood with her back straight and chin level, her own eyes searched his for a moment, “Yes sir.” Then she watched over her shoulder as Dorghu walked into Mikels office and shut the door behind him.

~~~~~~~~~~~

The young woman did not seem afraid. Nervous, uncertain, but not scared. Dorghu nodded as he closed the door behind him. He motioned to a plain chair against a wall, “Grab the chair, sit.” He, himself settled in Mikels chair at the desk, the chair and his leather jacket creaked as his body settled. He watched her as she grabbed the chair and moved it to a place on the other side of the desk. A tiny little thing, even compared to the female humans that generally hung around the clan. She had stood nearly a head shorter than Masha he had noticed, a somewhat fuller body, more flesh than muscle.

She sat and returned his stare, again he inhaled, nervous but not real fear.

“Do you speak our language?” He settled his weight on one elbow against the arm rest.

“No, I-I understand some basic words, but no.” her eyes bounced from his face to her lap and then back to his face.

He continued to stare, look her over in an effort to make a judgement. Though he was certain he had his mind made up already. Her eyes were interesting. Round, open, taking in everything they could. Again he made the unnecessary comparison to Masha and her icey glare that cut right to the center, hyper focused. He nodded a few times, “I've read some of your writing.” He paused and again gauged her reaction only to find her patiently waiting for him to expand. “You’re good. How do you choose your topics?”

Confusion started to overpower the uncertainty. ‘I write what I know.”

Dorghu chuckled, deep and rough. “And what is it that you know?”

She both pleased and surprised him with her response, “What will you tell me?”

~~~~~~~~~~~

Lacee stood on her tiptoes to whisper at Masha, “What do you think they’re doing?”

Distracted Masha replied short and clipped, **“We probably don’t want to know.”**

Her eyes dropped to the floor, petite mouth hung open slightly. “We don’t know? No, we don’t… want to know?”

Lacees sloppy translation refocused Masha’s attention and she made an effort to soften her face, “Close. We probably don’t want to know. Probably doesn't translate well. That was good though.”

Pleased with herself Lacee smiled, she had been working on learning the language but she was at a disadvantage as an English speaker. “He’ll tell you. Just promise you’ll share.”

Masha leaned back against the bar and shook her head at her young coworker. **“Why would he tell me?”**

Again the other girls eyes squinted, lips twisted in thought, “ lots of stuff.” Masha gave her the translation and Lacee repeated it, badly. “How the hell do you even make that sound?”

A clan member at the bar slouched back on his stool with a buzzed grin, “Gotta practice opening your throat. It’s all in the throat.” His friends on either side got a good laugh.

“Watch it brother.” As punishment for mouthing off Masha walked by and grabbed his beer off the counter, finishing it in three gulps before dropping the empty bottle in the trash. But she turned back to them with a smile, “She might ask you to help her practice and then you’ll just embarrass yourself.”

The orc and Lacee both ducked their heads while the others laughed and with a smile on her face Masha moved around the barroom to collect empty bottles and glasses. She couldn’t help but glance towards the still closed office door every few moments.

~~~~~~~~~~~

The sun was gone and the streets were dark when he finally opened the office door. Masha, Lacee and the handful of Fogteeth at the bar all turned to look. The young reporter walked out ahead of him, Dorghu’s hand at her back to guide her. They continued to watch as he walked her to the bar. “Lacee, get our new friend here a drink. Put it on my tab.” The young bartender did as she was told and Dorghu turned his attention to Masha.

A smile tried to force its way to the surface but he fought it, as well as the urge to breath deep something he had never smelled on her before. When he caught her gaze it increased and his control wavered. Dorghu stepped around and behind the bar, aware of the eyes that followed him, especially the overly observant ones of the young reporter.  
Masha had turned her back to the bar to make a drink and Dorghu walked up next to her, leaned against the back counter, close enough her elbow grazed his while she poured. She didn’t look at him, focused on her work and so he asked his question. Asked it in a way that he knew would get him the answer he wanted, _“Are you jealous?”_

She looked at him, her head did not move, only her eyes, **“Is that what you want?”**

He shook his head, stubborn girl. _“I want to hear your Russian.”_

There was that stare, the one that drove right to the center of everything, _“Does it matter if I am jealous? I have no right to be. All that matters is that she’s on our side right?”_ She caught the slip and jumped to correct it. _“Your side.”_

Dorghu worked his jaw back and forth, he’d never understand why hearing her speak her native language had always had an affect on him but it did. **“Don’t correct yourself. You were right.”** His eyes flicked to his men who stared with mild interest and then to the wide eyed reporter who could not look away.

Still leaned back against the counter Dorghu slid his left arm around the front of Masha’s waist and grabbed a hold of her, pulled her so that she stood in front of him. His hand slipped under her flowy shirt as she settled, a little stiffly, in front of him and he slid his rough palm around her waist and up her back at an angle. He didn’t have to look away from her to know that his boys had averted their eyes. He also didn’t have to look away to know when the reporters eyes jumped wider, as his hand pulled Mahsas shirt up high enough to reveal the grip of the handgun she kept holstered at her back.

A shiver rolled down his spine just then and his hand pawed at her back, pressed her tight against him. Masha was jealous. He knew it for a fact. He knew why but did not understand completely. His eyes settled back on Mashas to find the glare still in place, a challenge. _“What are you doing?”_

Dorghu chuckled, only enough to make his chest rise and fall, **“Trying to make it up to you.”** He spoke the words directly into her ear.

Faster and easier than he’d like to admit Masha had a hold of his hand that had been around her waist and wrenched it at an odd angle. A few of his large fingers even popped under her grip. _“Try harder.”_ With another twist and a sharp shove she freed herself from his space, vaulted the bar top and walked to the office with a slam of the door behind her.

Dorghu couldn’t help but laugh even as he cracked his knuckles back into place, He looked back to his clan members at the bar, all doing their best to hide their own laughter. The little reporter, that looked so out of place among the orcs at the bar still looked confused and had not yet taken even a sip of her beer. “Russian girls, they like to be difficult.” He laughed again and pointed to her beer, “Drink, talk, make friends. You said you wanted to see what it’s like. Here you go.” Dorghu made to walk out from behind the bar but turned back, **“To, watch her.”**

Tolar nodded, and then bobbed his head towards the closed office door, **“Careful, she might shoot you if the thought crosses her mind.”** Again they all laughed, Dorghu too as he walked down the hall to the office and swung the door open.

Masha stood with her back to him, her hands braced on the counter top that ran along the wall behind Mikels desk. Her knee bounced against one of the cupboard doors, filling the room with the shallow thud, thud, thud, as it knocked against the frame. The agitation rolled off of her in waves and he watched her as he closed the door and went to sit in the desk chair. She didn’t look at him but did unclench her hands from the edge of the counter. _“I am sorry I grabbed you. I should not have done that.”_

He couldn’t help but laugh and crack his knuckles again, one of them still wasn’t quite wear it belonged. **“I grabbed you first.”** His eyes traveled up and down her body, the long, lean, tight body he had been comparing the reporter to for the last couple of hours. **“If I grab you again are you going to try and break some more fingers?”** She did not answer but her head dropped forward and then back, before she shook it side to side. Her pony tail, longer than he had ever seen it before, swayed back and forth with the movement. With a slow and steady hand he stretched out in front of him and slipped four fingers into a back pocket of her jeans, then pulled her backwards. He pulled her towards him, and she came, until her knees bumped his and she ended up in his lap, a little less than graceful.

He swiveled the chair around and even with her extra weight, easily kicked his feet up on the desk, crossed at the ankles.

Still tense, Masha found herself reclined back against Dorghus chest, her legs hanging off to the sides until he nudged her to pick them up and lay them on top of his. She too crossed her legs at the ankle and let them settle into the groove between his massive legs

Dorghu left one hand tucked under her thigh and the other one settled on the arm rest of the chair. “Relax, _Devochka_.” The thumb of his hand trapped under her thigh began to stroke back and forth just above her knee. Calluses dragging and catching against the denim. He shifted his weight slightly in the chair and reached his free hand between them, using it to pull free the gun and its holster and remove it from the back of her jeans. He sat up straight, stretched slightly, and placed it on the desk off to the side, “Right where you can reach it if you need to.

“Don’t tempt me.” Her accent was thick with her agitation, but her body did relax against him, barely noticeable.

He only had to duck his chin to speak directly into her ear, “I was not trying to make you jealous. Just business. But, I certainly planned on taking advantage of it as soon as I noticed you were.” Again with his free hand, he reached into the inside pocket of his jacket and removed his own pistol, setting it on the desk next to hers.

Her arms still crossed over her chest she stared straight ahead, “She’s cute.” 

He could not keep the sly grin at bay, “You can have her if you like her.” Her response was a well aimed elbow just below his bottom rib. It hurt but not enough to stop him from laughing. He moved both his hands to her waist, used her movement as an excuse to actually hold her lest she fell. She remained still as he let his hands wander under her shirt, over the dip of her hip bones and across her flat stomach. His eyes slipped closed and he breathed in deep, “You can’t tell me you didn’t want to sink your teeth in me out there, right in front of her.” His hands spread wide, covering her rib cage completely. “Just in case she had any ideas.” One hand moved up to grab her breast, she hadn't worn a bra today and her nipples were already stiff, and the other slid back down her stomach. “You like putting the girls in their place.” his fingers curled into her flesh and her breath caught. “You like the guys being a little scared to get too close.” Her slight weight sagged against him finally and he smiled. Carefully he rubbed a tusk against the shell of her ear. “Tell me I’m wrong.” He stilled his hands and almost immediately she tried to roll her body back against him, one of her hands clamped over the top of his. He let out a long, shaky breath and flared his nostrils, he had to stop himself from growling. He pressed his lips right against her ear. “Tell me I’m right.”

Her grip on his hand increased but this time it wasn’t to dislocate his fingers. “Fine. You’re right.”

“Mmmm…” The hand on her stomach moved and had the button of her jeans undone, “Let me show you,” He slid the zipper down with a chuckle, “You’re not the one that should be jealous.’ Her back arched against him and her head rolled to the side and fuck he was already almost shaking from the need. When his still dislocated finger slid between her folds he let go of the growl he had been holding in. “So fucking wet, always so fucking wet.” He pulled his finger from her only long enough to suck it clean and finally jerk it back into place with a twist and a crack.

With both his hands gone from her Masha arched up and almost whined at the loss of contact until she heard his finger pop sharply, “I’m sorry.”

Dorghu laughed and immediately slid the finger back inside of her. “Don’t be _Devochka_.” He withdrew and then quickly shoved a second finger into her as deep as it could go. She gasped and shoved her hips down against him. “Do your damage.” He shoved the fingers back into her and snarled in pleasure at the second gasp. “Fuck me up.” He sped up his fingers, her jeans inhibiting his movements slightly. “Bite me, scratch me, break a fuckin’ finger if you want to.” He pulled his fingers out of her again but only to rub at her clit like a mad man.

She shook violently and one of her hands shot up and clawed at the back of his neck. She was going to cum. Masha was panting and writhing on top of him and he sped up his movements until her hips bucked against his hand. Her eyes were clamped shut and her mouth hung open, his arm around her chest was all the kept from from falling at this point.

He could see she had her teeth gritted and he rubbed at her clit faster, harder. “Fuck little girl, are you going to cum for me already?”

Her only answer was another buck of her hips and a breathy, “Don’t stop."

He had no plans on stopping. Instead he sped up, rubbing all four fingers in hard, fast circles until she jolted up and gasped in air as a quick, silent orgasm washed over her. Within seconds she flopped back down on his chest, his hand still cupping her, middle finger lazily stroking up and down through her still slick folds. Dorghu scraped the tips of his tusks up the side of her neck and then ran his tongue over each of the marks. “Good girl.”

She laid there, one hand wrapped around his wrist where his arm held her to him and the other still clawed at his neck. Her breathing slowed down eventually and a small smile spread across her lips. He was so focused on the smooth wetness of her pussy under his finger that he barely noticed her shifting enough to grab a hold of him through his jeans. Her voice is what snapped his attention back fully, “I almost forgive you.”

Dorghu chuckled and swiped his finger a little deeper, “Almost?” She stroked him again through his jeans. ‘What else you want _Devochka_?”

Mesmerized, he watched as she pulled his hand from her pussy to her mouth and licked it clean. Without warning she braced a foot on the edge of the desk and shoved off so that his boots fell to the floor. His eyes were still wide and dark when she slid from his lap, jeans hung low and open on her hips, and tugged on his hand. He followed the pull and raked his eyes over her as she hopped up to sit on Mikels desk. She opened her legs and pulled him to stand between them, her head tilted up to look at him. “I want the real thing.”

He choked back another growl and gripped her thighs as hard as he could. “Fuck.” He didn’t pay any attention to his teeth now, just planted his hands on the desk to brace himself so he could slam his mouth down over hers. He swallowed her moans but let loose another growl as her hands grabbed at his belt. Against his will he grabbed her hands and stopped her, he took a steadying breath, careful to do so through his mouth not his nose. “You want me to fuck you?” he fell back against her lips, “In here, with everyone outside.” he growled again and shoved his tongue into her mouth, only to have her bite it and then return the favor. “Fuck baby, the boys will hear you, smell you…” He hummed against her lips, “They’ll all know.”

Masha just nodded and pulled his bottom lip between her teeth, mumbling around it, “I know.”

That was all Dorghu needed to hear. He released her hands to go back to his belt and he shrugged out of the restricting leather jacket. Once she had his pants open she went to work on the buttons of his shirt. The thought of her needing his skin sent a shock down his spine and he grabbed her jeans and jerked them down her lean legs and off, taking her skimpy underwear and tennis shoes off with them in a wadded mess. Momentarily distracted he trailed his fingers up the intricate ink drawing that covered most of her right leg. Vines, leaves, flowers and long lines of Cyrillic he couldn’t read.

She had his shirt open and used it to pull him to her and he covered her mouth with his. One hand still sliding over her heavily tattooed thigh he finally had to stop when she started shoving the shirt off his shoulders. He had to help her, had to unbutton the cuffs so the sleeves would fit over his massive hands. The way her face lit up at the sight of his exposed top half had him snarling and dragging her hips to the edge of the desk.

He caught himself, hands flexed on her hips, “Shit,” he growled low in his throat. “Gotta go slow baby or I’ll hurt you.”

Masha shivered once and dug her nails into his scarred shoulder. “Okay.” She laid back on the desk for a minute to collect herself, “Okay.” When his hands slid up each of her thighs she uncovered her eyes and looked at him, her body involuntarily arching off the table as she watched Dorghu pull himself free from the jeans still slung low on his hips. Her eyes widened and then clamped shut as she pawed at her own breasts and let out an impatient whine.

His hand worked the length of his cock slowly, for no reason other than her reaction. He was already rock hard and dripping. “ _Devochka_ ,” he sniffed the air once or twice, “Do you take those pills?” He grit his teeth when she giggled and sat up on her elbows, her shirt falling back down over her breasts.

_“Big scary clan leader is so responsible. Yes, I take those pills.”_ she apparently wasn’t oblivious to the affect her native tongue had on him. Her eyes darted down to the hand that still slid over the generous length and girth of himself and she smiled. _“If I were you, I’d be more worried about if you will even fit or not.”_

He watched her stretch back over the desk and felt her legs hook high around his waist to pull him closer. With out waiting his slid the head in and immediately froze, began cursing in his own language. Her legs tugged at him again but it was no use, she couldn’t move him unless he wanted her to. “You’re so fucking tight _Devochka_. I’m not the first am I?” He breathed the words out into her chest as he leaned forward to compose himself.

She giggled again and squeezed her muscles around him, causing him to thrust further in a little and they both gasped, _“The first since I moved to America. The first of your kind”_

It took everything he had not to drive into her then and there. But he restrained, began to rock his hips into her slow and steady. Warm, wet, tight, and flexible. She was perfect and he felt himself losing control. She didn’t seem to mind and so he let go, pulling all the way out and with both hands around her waist he slammed into her, sank himself in until their bodies hit bone on bone and fuck the strangled moan she made had him doing it again and again.

He was so close already he thought he was going to embarrass himself but when he looked down at Masha, her eyes rolled back in her head and hands fisted in her own hair he thought he may not be alone. He grabbed her knees and pushed them forward, spreading her wide and he watched as his dark blue cock pounded into the normally pale skin now flushed such a deep pinkish red. He growled again and this one louder and Masha arched off the table in response.

Suddenly she could not set still, her hands were everywhere clawing at his arms, the desk, the papers on the desk, even her own legs. The next stroke he must of hit that particular spot deep inside her because she slammed her hand out onto the desk next to her and he couldn’t look away as her fingers clutched at the leather jacket he had laid there. He saw glimpses of the orange patches between her fingers, the ones that told exactly who and what he was. A ruthless, dangerous criminal, a leader of dangerous, violent criminals. He forced his eyes back to Masha and how she was quite literally laid out before him, unafraid and unashamed. He angled his hips and hit that spot again, her other hand moved to grab at the other side of the table but it froze in midair as they both glanced to the guns she would have knocked to the floor. She forced her eyes to stay open long enough to stare back at him with her favorite evil smirk.

In that instant they were both done playing around. He leaned closer and slid his arms under her bowed back, picking her up with an uncharacteristic squeal as she wrapped her arms and legs around him and settled deeper onto his now twitching cock. He barely noticed the clunk of his knife and its sheath landing on the floor as his jeans finally fell completely from his hips.

He grabbed her ass in both hands, pleased at the way each cheek fit each hand perfectly, and began lifting her and dropping her, off and on himself until he felt it coming. Her moans were short and choked, her hands clawed at his back and her breath came in heady gasps, Her chest mashed against his, his necklace caught between them dug into his skin but the slight pain only added to the pleasure. He shifted his hold on her a bit and he held her tighter against him.

“Oh fuck!” She gasped into the side of his neck as the new position hit her deep and stimulated her clit at the same time. Doing her best to keep quiet she kept her face against him even as she bounced. She was so easy to hold, her own strong legs helping do most of the work. So much so that Dorghu was ready to keep going, he thought he’d bought himself some extra time but then she felt her lips against his more sensitive, damaged ear, rubbing her lips and nose against it as she spoke, _“Dorghu please, I can’t, I’m so close, so close, so fucking close, please.”_

That’s when he knew he was done. With one hand under her ass and the other one he slid up her spine and dug into her now messy hair, ponytail bouncing wildly as it fell looser and looser. He slammed into her over and over, pressing her whole body against his with each stroke and glanced up at her quickly before clamping his teeth, tusks included, into the flesh where her neck met her shoulder.

Her whole body tensed, head tilted back, mouth open and he felt her spasm and clench around him. His whole body shuddered and she tightened her grip on him with her legs, pulling him deeper inside her and suddenly his entire body was on fire and he saw kaleidoscope patterns against his eyelids as he came so hard he worried he might actually drop her. The sensation of the warm liquid flooding her sent her pussy into more spasms and Dorghu couldn’t help but buck his hips up into her, hard, once. Twice as her nails dug into his back. A third time as she let out a shuddered breath against his ear. Then she went completely limp, counting on his arms to hold her because she physically could not any more.

He took the little extra weight easily but the muscles in his legs were shaking and he was having a hard time catching his breath. As carefully as he could he set her back on the desk and once she felt something solid beneath her she let go and laid back down, arms draped over her eyes, chest heaving under her shirt, legs still hooked lazily around his waist. He was spent and slowly he rubbed at her legs as he moved to pull out. Even that little movement had her fluttering around him again and he dug his fingers into her thigh as his cock jumped inside her of its own accord. Eventually he pulled free and regretted it instantly, but he was already starting to go limp and it felt great.

Dorghu tried to think of the last time he had been so utterly used up after just one go and nothing recent came to mind. He pulled his jeans back up but left them open and his cock hanging out as he dropped back into the office chair. Which might have been a mistake because as he slouched back he found himself nearly eye level with his new favorite addiction. Dripping, raw, swollen and completely opened up to him if he wanted it again. She smelled like sweat and sex and him and her and it was so thick in the air this close, that he would swear he could taste it. For a moment he toyed with the idea of actually tasting her but instead he reached for her legs and pulled them up so she could rest her feet on his thighs. Her knees splayed out to the side, her breath shuddering again and he was perfectly content to sit and enjoy the view while she came down.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Ow.”

He could barely see her face from the angle his was sitting at but he knew that his hand that rested around her calf couldn’t be causing her any pain. He scented the air and still only smelled sex, no real pain. “Is that a bad ow or a good ow?”

She shifted slightly on the desk, and when she spoke it was soft and thick with her old accent, “Mostly good. Mostly really fucking good. Except for this.” She held up a hand, smeared across the fingers with blood.

“Fuck.” Dorghu sat up straighter. He had bit her. Hard. Too hard for a human. He moved her legs to one side and rested them in the seat of the chair as he stood up. Tucking himself, now totally flaccid, back into his jeans before reaching to help her sit up. “Fuck.” He repeated. The marks on her neck were jagged and uneven, his sharp teeth doing just as much damage as his tusks. “Shit _Devochka_ , I wasn’t thinking.” He raised one hand to brush the skin around the marks. His good ear twitched when she laughed.

“No, it’s fine. It was sexy as hell.” She laid back on the desk, her bloody hand dangling over the edge. “Can you grab my bag? On the hook there.”

He looked where she pointed and walked over to the wall to pull her gym bag off the hook. He brought it back to her and set it on the desk, on top of his jacket.

“Help me up? My muscles don’t want to function at the moment.” She chuckled again, with an honest smile and a wink as he helped her up again.

He stood, unusually awkward as she unzipped her bag and pulled out the first aid kit she now carried everywhere. Dorghu shook his head still staring at where he had tore her skin, “You know you could put me in jail for that.” He wasn’t sure why he said it. He wasn’t sure what he expected her to say either.

“If I was gonna rat on anything I think it’d be the drug and gun money Mikel launders for you.” Her icey, foreboding eyes were back to normal as she looked up from cleaning the blood off herself. “This? This is just a… shit a… the fuck is the word… hickey!”

He stared down at her a little shocked but not entirely surprised. “Too smart for your own good.”

Masha looked back up at him and smiled, “Remember that. And don’t look so guilty.” She watched him as he shook his head and picked his shirt up off the floor along with the rest of her clothes.

He shrugged into his shirt, leaving the cuffs and front unbuttoned as he turned back to the cupboards and dug through several before he found what he was looking for. He returned with a small, new, bar towel in his hand and looked her up and down once more. “Can you stand up yet?”

“Very funny.” Masha slid to the edge of the desk and hopped down, though her legs were a little unsteady.

“Here.” He grabbed her hand and rested it on his shoulder. He ignored her confused stare as he reached down to clean her up, best he could at least. His eyes settled on the mark he’d left in her pale skin and he found he couldn’t look away. He tossed the dirty towel in the garbage and sat her back on the desk next to her clothes. He dropped back into the chair and dug his cigarettes and lighter out of his jacket. His eyes tracked her movements as she shimmied back into her panties and jeans, even chuckling when she braced her feet on his chest to arch her back and pull her jeans up over her hips without standing up.

Masha still laid back on the desk, now fully clothed, one hand holding a gauze pad over her wound and her feet in his lap. The hand that didn’t hold his cigarette wrapped behind her knee and he watched her idly. “You should head home _Devochka_ , you shouldn’t be out there with that.” He pointed at her neck with his cigarette. “I’ll have Lacee close up early.”

She sat up, eyebrow raised, “Thought you liked the idea of them knowing.”

He laughed, a stream of smoke rolling out his nostrils. “I do, and they’ll know, trust me. But that’s gonna hurt like a mother fucker soon and you should wash it out good in the shower before it gets too bad.”

Masha looked him over and eventually nodded. She pulled her feet from his lap and slid back to stand on the floor. She grabbed her pistol and holster, putting them in her duffle with her first kit and zipped it closed. Before she left she leaned forward, a hand braced on each arm rest of the chair, her face inches away from his. _“Yes Sir.”_

The growl was so low and deep he knew she could feel it through the chair, “Don’t tempt me _Devochka_.” He brushed a hand over the damage he had already done.

“Hey,” She moved one hand to tip his face to the side and lightly trace the scar closest to his eye from end to end, from his temple down past his eye, over the corner of his lip and to his chin. “It’s just skin.” She moved, careful to avoid his tusks, and kissed him. Soft and quick and he returned it on reflex. For a moment he thought how long it had been a long time since he’d had a kiss like that. Simple and familiar. It made his chest ache a little.

Dorghu pressed his forehead against her temple and sighed, “Go home _Devochka_ , get some sleep. I’ll send Tolar to keep an eye on you guys tomorrow night, everyone else is goin’ to be busy.”

She nodded and stepped away from him to grab her gym bag, careful to sling it over her uninjured shoulder. “This reporter. You really think she can make a difference?”

Dorghu had stood up and finally got around to doing up the buttons on his shirt, cigarette clamped between his lips. “I don’t know. But, it can’t hurt to have her on our side.”

Masha nodded as she pulled the rubber bands from her hair and shook it loose. Then she walked out the door shutting it behind her.

she left he mashed his cigarette out in the ash tray and tucked his shirt in. His nostrils flared as he shrugged back into his jacket and he smiled to himself while he slid his pistol back into the pocket inside.

As soon as he opened the office door and stepped back out into the bar several eyes landed on him, specifically his men at the bar. Tolar was the first to speak, always had a smart mouth that kid. “Hey boss, get everything worked out?”

Dorghu reached in his jacket and got himself another cigarette, “Go get the fucking cars, we got shit to do.” With a smile he lit the cigarette while he watched Tolar and the others scramble off their stools, chug their drinks and head for the door.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter contains violence and racial slurs!
> 
> _Russian_ and of course **Bodzvokhan**
> 
> Mikey makes an appearance and we get a friendly reminder that the Fogteeth are technically bad guys and we love them for it!

Chapter Seven

Masha shuffled into the office around 3:30 am and squinted at Mikel who still sat at the desk, a thick laptop and a notebook full of nearly illegible numbers in front of him. “Hey girl.”

“Hey Mikel.” She walked over to the small employee fridge and pulled out a bottle of water before she hopped up to sit on the counter behind him. “Shouldn’t you have left like a long time ago?” She cracked the bottle open and drank a third of it before she stopped for air.

He tapped a few keys, slow and uncoordinated with his over sized fingers, then swiveled the chair around to face her. “Well, I had some work I needed to get done… and I wanted to talk to you.”

“Oh?” She ran a hand through her currently untamed hair.

“Yeah.” Mikel pulled his glasses off and dropped them on the desk behind him. He watched her, waited her to finish stretching her arms high above her head. “Masha, I want you to run the bar for me.”

Masha stared at him dully, her eyes foggy and tired. “What do you mean?”

He leaned forward, elbows on his knees. “You’ve been here longer than anyone I’ve ever hired, you’re a hard worker, smart, tough enough to handle the… specific clientele we cater to, you know everyone, everyone loves you, respects you.” Mikel paused and looked her over again, “Every time I see you, you’re exhausted. How long can you work all day at the gym and all night here?”

She leaned back against the wall, swung her feet, letting them bounce off the cupboards below her. “As long as I have to.”

Her employer scratched at his pale, bluish green forearm, “Take this job, be the manager here, work normal hours, get paid more.” His eyes locked on hers and waited for them to focus, “Handle the books and I’ll split my cut with you.”

That caught her attention. She laughed, dry and sarcastic, and took another drink of the water bottle. “Dorghu won’t allow it.”

“He already did. Thinks it’s a great idea, even agreed to up our percentage. We’d both make more money.” The well used, wooden chair squeaked as he shifted his weight, “He trusts you, obviously, and so do I. You can still work behind the bar if you want, keep your tips, you’d just have more responsibility.” What he didn’t mention about that responsibility was that it was prosecutable as a federal offense and it would most likely land her in prison and eventually back in Russia. “You’d be compensated for it though.”

Masha continued to bounce her feet off the cupboard doors and drink her water. When her water was empty she screwed the cap back on and tossed it in the garbage next to Mikels desk. “So, I’d what? Place orders, handle deliveries, hire, fire, write paychecks and cook the books? Conceal money for a criminal organization and pour cheap beer, livin’ the dream.” She dropped her head back against the wall with a snort. Almost immediately she sighed, **“I’m sorry Mikel, I did not mean it like that.”**

He smiled at her, his eyes almost fluorescent, **“I know. You’re tired. Which is why you should take this job Masha.”**

Masha looked at her boss. **“I’m not an orc Mikel. I’m not clan.”**

**“Which makes you perfect.”** His smile turned conspiratorial. **“Even more perfect.”**

**“Do you think I can do it?”**

“Dorghu said you knew, and didn’t say anything. For quite awhile. Why?”

Masha sighed deeply again. Leaned her elbows on her knees, mirroring Mikel. “I came to the states because my parents were dead and my brother was here.” She fought to swallow a bitter lump in her throat. “I’ve seen him once, since I moved here, in person. A handful of times on the TV… This is my family. You don’t rat on family. You protect family.”

“Even if most of your new family are violent, dangerous, criminals with questionable morals?” His tone was serious but soft.

Masha snickered, “Especially then.”

Mikel laughed with her. “Take the job Masha.”

She pulled her legs up to sit cross legged on the counter, elbows on her knees. With a huff she rubbed her hands over her face and stared at the floor.

~~~~~~~ Many Months Later~~~~~~~

Masha flicked open her pocket knife and sliced through the tape of a plain, brown cardboard box. She shuffled the contents from the box to the shelves in the back of the kitchen, humming along to the song that played on the jukebox out front. She had just flattened out the box when Mikey and Vincent came through the back door carrying three cases of beer each.

“This is the last of ‘em Masha.” Mikey called as they walked past her and took the boxes into the walk in cooler. They returned a second later, breathing a little heavy but both with smiles on their faces.

“Thank you boys.” She pulled a wad of cash from her pocket and folded out two twenty dollar bills. With the bills between her fingers she extended her hand towards them, “You could make a little extra and stock the coolers and the shelves so the girls don’t have to.”

They exchanged a look, both shrugged. Mikey nodded, his gold chain swayed against his t-shirt as he shifted his weight from side to side, “Yeah sure.”

She gave them the twenties and walked around them to leave the kitchen, “Come find me when you’re done.” With the boys hard at work she walked out to the front and rolled her eyes when she saw Tolar leaning over the counter talking to Nessa. “Excuse me sir but, we’re closed. I’m going to have to kindly ask you to get the fuck out.”

Tolar turned and put on his best pout, “Aww c’mon! Don’t be mean, I thought we were friends.”

Masha laughed and propped herself up by the shoulder in the end of the hall, “Some days To, don’t push your luck ‘cause I might change my mind.” She chuckled and shook her head in amusement. “You ready for the till money Nessa?”

“Yeah, whenever you are.”

“Okay.” Masha pushed off the wall and walked back into the office. She quickly opened the safe and grabbed a money bag off the top shelf, taking a quick glance over the other contents of the safe before she closed the door and spun the lock.

Back out front Masha took the money bag to Nessa behind the bar and went to talk to Tolar while his girlfriend got the cash register ready to open. “So, you guys goin’ to be around tonight?”

“Nah, boss is antsy. Gang bangers are pushing back now that their main homie is back in charge.” Tolar straightened the shoulders of his jersey, “Some of us might try to come by later but, depends on how shit goes ya know.”

Masha nodded, “I hate to sound like a bitch but… are we really worried about a Mexican in a wheelchair?”

From down the bar Nessa laughed, “You’re a terrible person and you’re going to hell.”

“Bitch that’s not anything new!” They all laughed and Masha turned back to Tolar, “Seriously though?”

“I don’t know girly. Sure sounds like it’s for real. I don’t know, there’s somethin’ in the air. You can feel it. It’s gonna be a long summer.”

The conversation trailed off there until Nessa came back, “All set. It okay if I go grab a smoke with To before he leaves?”

“Yeah sure, unlock the door on your way out will ya? I’ll watch the bar.” Masha rapped her knuckles against the counter and extended her fist to Tolar, “Stay safe brother.”

The large orc bumped fists with Masha before reaching over the bar to grab Nessa around the waist and hoist her up and over the bar. He set her on her feet gently and they walked out the front door together giggling obnoxiously.

Masha rolled her eyes but smiled too. She reached for her favorite bottle of vodka and poured herself a shot into a pint glass, topping it off with a can of Sprite. She had just taken her first sip when Mikey and Vincent appeared from the kitchen, laughing again. “That was fast.”

The boys shared a look and laughed some more, “We’re very motivated.” Vincents voice was a little deeper than Mikeys and he stood a little taller.

“Mhmm…” Masha crossed her arms and looked from one young orc to the other. Only two things motivated seventeen year old boys regardless of their race, money and girls. She walked the length of the bar, staring the boys down with each step she took. Vincent eventually lost some of his bravado and looked to his shoes, but Mikey didn’t weaken. He kept his eyes on hers and a smile on his face. Masha came to stand in front of him with a raised eyebrow. His mostly pale face flushed a little but he still didn’t look away. Finally she nodded and gave the boys a smile, “Grab a six pack out of the cooler. A six pack!” She pointed at him as a threat. “Don’t. Be. Stupid.”

Mikey and Vincent shared a look and bumped each other on the shoulder, all smiles again. Mikey wrapped an arm around her in a hug and very quickly, very carefully kissed her on the cheek. “Thanks Masha.” He bumped his forehead against hers for a second, “We’ll be careful, promise.”

“You better, or else your dad will kill us both.” Masha chuckled and shoved the two boys back down the hall, “Now get out of here. Go have fun.Thank you for helping unload.” She watched them as they disappeared into the back and listened for the back door slamming closed.

“I will pretend I didn’t see that.”

Masha actually flinched at the voice in her ear and the breath on her neck. She spun around, “Holy fuck… how the fuck…you’re too big to be that sneaky.”

“You’re too smart to be contributing to minors.” Dorghu had his hands shoved in his pants pockets and his head tipped down to stare at Masha. “My son no less.”

“If they didn’t get it from me they would have gotten it somewhere else. Plus, your son, unlike most his age, is not stupid.” Masha took a half step forward, crossing her arms over her chest. “He promised me he’d e careful and I trust him.” She looked up at him with her head tilted to one side. “So do you.”

Dorghu chuckled and rested his hand at the base of her neck, thumb rubbing up and down the front of her throat. “Lucky for you.”

“Mhmm.” She drew out the hum and felt the hand at her throat tighten for a split second at the vibration. Masha drew her bottom lip between her teeth and wrapped one of her own hands around his forearm, or rather over the top of it. Her hands too small to wrap all the way around. “To said you guys have a thing tonight.”

He grunted as he moved his hand to the back of her neck, threaded his fingers through her loose hair. “Tolar should keep his mouth shut. But, yes.”

Masha hummed again and let her eyes slip closed while his thick, blunt fingers massaged the base of her skull. She gave his arm a squeeze, the leather sleeve bunching in her grip, “I’ll be here all night. Just in case.”

“Good girl.”

His hand suddenly disappeared from her neck only to reappear at the back of her knee. Masha had just jerked her eyes open in time for Dorghu to hoist her up by the back of one knee and press her into the wall of the hallway. She was held up by a strange combination of his one handed grip, her own core strength and his body weight pushing her up against the wall. With his other hand braced against the wall he hoisted her up higher until her neck was directly in front of him and then he buried his face in the hollow of her throat.

She grasps the back of his neck now, her head tipped back against the wall as she feels his tusks rub against her collar bone. Once the initial shudder of arousal passes she remembers why he’s doing this and focuses. Masha leans forward again and rests her lips against the top of the scar that starts highest on his skull. The one he hates the most. Her personal favorite.

He breathes her in deeply, fill his lungs and then lets it out slowly before he lets her slip back to the floor, to stand on her own two feet but still tightly held between him and the wall. His eyes jump about her face for a split second, lingering longer on her newest scar before he nods and heads back towards the front door.

She stands there, leaning back against the wall, one hand reached up to rest over the still puckered scar. She knew he felt guilty about it, she also knew that a small part of him enjoyed it. Contrary to what most groupies thought, the human ones anyway, males didn’t mark women or claim them. Not by biting anyway. It was dangerous and impractical, but some liked to bite, some liked to be bitten. Orc skin was thick, tough, harder to break. Masha had ruined many a girls day by explaining the nasty scars on her neck and shoulder happened while having, admittedly mind blowing, sex with an orc.

The scars were not two, clean, neat, little circles like most of them expected. No, they were a handful of jagged, rough, rips through her flesh, ugly and impossible to hide. Dorghu had come close to taking a chunk of meat out of her paler and weaker skin that night. The looks of the scars alone was enough to convince most adventurous young girls that big orc cocks weren’t worth it.

But, that didn’t stop a shiver from rolling down Masha’s spine as she brushed her fingers over her own marred skin.

Masha was still standing there when the blacked out Escalade pulled away from the curb a few moments later. She pulled herself back from her thoughts finally, rubbed at the scar once more as though it was nothing more than a sore muscle and settled her attention on more important matters. 

Eventually Nessa walked in the door and across the empty bar to stand next to her friend and manager. A pained look on her face. “Tolar is nervous. Says a lot of them are. Something bad is coming.”

~~~~~~~

“New girl seemed to work out well.” Masha walked behind the bar to pull the money out of the till while Nessa locked the front door.

“Yeah.” Nessa paused at the door, eyes glued to the street outside.

Masha looked up at her friend, “Hey,” She waited until Nessa actually turned to face her, the tail of her headscarf sliding off her shoulder. “He’s fine Nessa.”

“Yeah.” She repeated before turning her back on the door. “I know.”

With a sigh, Masha stopped what she was doing and leaned forward, elbows on the bar. “Getting harder the closer you get?”

The younger woman nodded. “He’s different, not just some guy…”

“I know.” Masha shoved the rest of the cash register money into the bag and bumped the drawer closed, “So does he Nessa.” She walked out from behind the bar as Nessa came back from the door, “You gonna hang around awhile longer?”

Nessa nodded, “If that’s okay?”

“Of course it is. You make us a stiff drink while I go count this.” The girls shared a smile before Masha went back into the office.

She had just placed the bank bag in the safe, ready for the next shift when she heard a commotion out front. Masha closed the safe with one hand and rested the other on the grip of the small pistol in her jeans. A glance out the office door calmed her. The commotion had been Tolar and some of the others coming through the front door and Nessa attacking Tolar as soon as she had unlocked the door for them.

Masha relaxed and closed the office door behind her as she walked out into the bar and up to Marcus who had sat on one of the stools. “Well?”

“Hey beautiful, all good, everyone’s whole. Well,” he chuckled as did the two soldiers next to him, “We are anyway.”

“Good.” She looked to where Nessa was still wrapped around Tolar and then over the rest of them, “Want a drink? Who am I kidding? of course you do.”

She had just got them all set up with drinks when Dorghu and two others came through the door as well. Masha immediately poured three more beers, which were happily received. Except for Dorghu. He caught Masha’s eye but continued towards the wall of booths where he dropped into one of the benches and kicked the table up against the opposite bench. With a quick glance at the others Masha grabbed the remaining mug of beer and walked out from behind the bar.

Across the room she set the mug on the table in front of him. “Drink. Relax.”

He looked up at her and as she moved to walk away he grabbed her hand to stop her. “Sit.” He tugged her to him, pulled her to straddle his lap, shifted his seat so that his legs were spread wide. His eyes traveled over her for a second and then let out a long sigh. Relaxing into the bench, Masha relaxed too. Dorghu rested his hands on her thighs and looked around the room. “Finish your drinks, then go home.”

It wasn’t a loud, barking order like his usual, and the entire atmosphere of the bar changed as the guys finally started to wind down from… whatever it was they had gotten into that night.

Dorghu remained quiet for some time, his head leaned back against the booth and his hands roaming Masha’s body over her clothes. Eventually Masha broke his silence, _“What are you thinking?”_

His un-torn ear twitched and then fluttered again as Masha ran her finger over the edges of the mutilated one. He didn’t stop her hand or his own, but he did open his eyes, “Come stay at the house tonight.”

Masha let a small smile loose and nodded, “Okay.” She slid her hands under his jacket to massage at his shoulders for a bit, “You go. I’ll get these guys chased out and lock up. I’ll be right behind you.”

He hummed and brought one hand up to the scars he had left on her, fingers brushed over them and he snorted out a laugh when her entire body shivered under his touch. He squeezed her thigh once, a signal to stand up and then ushered her back towards the others. With a quick ass grab and a playful spank he headed back out the front door. .

Masha slid back behind the bar, “Alright come on, chug and get the fuck out!”

Everyone laughed and Nessa turned away from Tolar, his arms still wrapped low around her waist, “Hey, I can lock up. If you want to take off?”

She considered the offer for a minute and then smiled, “Sure. Thanks.” Masha walked back out from behind the bar and towards the office. “Don’t break anything and don’t forget to lock the doors.” She grabbed her bag out of the office and slipped out the back door, momentarily overwhelmed by the ungodly heat, even in the middle of the night. Masha took off down the alley towards the parking lot.

Her car was one of the few left in the lot, other than a couple of pickups that belonged to clan guys. Masha reached for her keys just as something connected hard with the back of her head. Colors exploding in front of her eyes before her hands and face came into contact with the asphalt.

~~~~~~~~

Two of the clan guys walked out the back door, one of them in the middle of re-enacting a beat down he had given a few hours before. They were both laughing hysterically but the shorter of the two stopped, his hands shoved in the pockets of his hoodie he sniffed at the air. “Hey man, you smell that?” He inhaled deeper. “You bleeding or something?” He began to look his friend over.

“Nah, not a scratch.” The other orc looked over his hands and then up and down the alley as he tried to locate the scent.

Before either of them could figure it out a muffled gunshot echoed through the buildings, followed by three more in quick succession.

“Fuck, c’mon!” They took off in the direction of the shots at a run, or at least the orc equivalent. When they arrived at the parking lot, where they thought the shots had come from, they both skidded to a stop, guns drawn. “Oh shit…”

“Go get To and Marcus. Now!”

While the shorter ran back to the bar the other ran further into the parking lot, coming to a stop, slowly approaching the crumpled body they had found. “Masha…” he crept closer, eyes and ears working overtime, taking in the surroundings. “Masha?” He knelt down next to her.

She was laid face down, an arm bent under her and her hair, jeans and shirt covered in dirt, grime and blood. The eye he could see was closed and her mouth hung open slightly. “Shit… shit… Masha.” He set his gun down on the ground and laid a hand on her back. She didn’t move. As carefully as he could he rolled her over. The other side of her face was scraped raw, from eyebrow to chin, bits of gravel stuck to her skin. Her lip was split open in two places and her eye was swollen shut.

He flinched at a noise behind him and spun, his gun pointed at the middle of Tolar’s broad chest. “Fuck man!”

Tolar hurried over, “Holy fuck. Is she breathing?” He dropped his head to her chest, and listened. Behind them Marcus, Nessa and a few of the others waited, holding their own breath.

It was soft, wheezy and rough but it was there, she was breathing.

Tolar grabbed the less damaged side of her face, “Hey, Masha come on.” He turned to look back at the others, “Call Mikel! Tell him to meet us at the church, now!” He put a hand to her chest and shook her back and forth on the ground, “C’mon girly,” Then he made a fist and rubbed his knuckles harshly against her sternum. He continued to do so for several seconds.

Marcus hung up the phone. “He’ll be there. C’mon man we gotta go. Cops are gonna show eventually.”

With no luck Tolar stopped and looked up, “Nessa, grab her bag. Get her keys and take her Caddy. Go home and stay there! Donny, go with her.”

“Dude I’ll wreck the suspension in that thing.”

The orc that had originally found Masha spoke up, “I’ll follow her bro, my truck is right here.” He grabbed the duffle bag off the ground and handed it to Nessa who stood back shaking, tears dripping down her cheeks, visible even in the dark.

When she didn’t move Tolar yelled, louder, “Nessa, now!”

“Okay, okay.” She dug through the bag and found the keys, hit the unlock button and ran to the sleek, black coupe parked a few spaces away. She crawled in and slammed the door behind her. As the car started, bass pounded even through the closed doors and windows.

Once the two of them pulled out of the parking lot Tolar turned back to Masha. “Come on girly.” He rubbed at her sternum once more, harder and longer this time.

A gasping cough scared the shit out of all of them as Masha flinched at the pain. Coughing and batting weakly at Tolars hand that still dug at the tender nerves in her chest.

“Fuck. Masha. Hey, hey look at me babe. Look at me.” Tolar moved his hand back to her face, tried to catch her eye, the one that could open finally focused on him but only just. “Hey, hey babe, listen. Can you hear me?” He yelled at whoever would listen, “Go get the Escalade!” Then he turned back to Masha, “What happened? Are you shot?” Tolar and Marcus both looked over her but she grabbed at Tolars hand to get his attention.

She opened and closed her mouth a couple of times and finally just dropped her hand to the side, pointing vaguely towards the building behind her.

One of the others followed where she pointed, “Gun.” He picked it up, holding it up for a second before shoving it in his jacket pocket.

“C’mon we gotta go.” He bent to pick her up but she fought against him, coughing some more and groaning, clutching at her side with the only hand that seemed to be able to move.

Tolar watched as she gritted her teeth and scrunched her face up against the pain. “Down, down the alley.” She gasped in a raspy breath. “I- got one. I think.” She writhed on the ground for a second, groaning again as her eyes rolled back. “Mexican.”

“Okay, okay, good girl Mash. I still gotta pick you up and get you outta here.” He turned around as tires squealed and a black SUV pulled up next to them.

Marcus called from further down the alley, “She did get one! Pecker head’s still alive!”

Masha rolled over and began to retch violently. Tolar shook his head with a combination of worry and pure anger, “Fuck this. Bring that wet back mother fucker!”

Once she was finished vomiting Tolar picked Masha up and put her in the backseat of the SUV as carefully as possible, “You good?” Masha moaned something resembling a yes and he slammed the door. “Get him, meet us at the church. Call Dorghu!”

~~~~~~~

They all flinched as a door down the hall slammed open. Everyone except for Mikel who currently knelt next to the pew where Masha lay while he stitched up the bigger cuts to her face. He paused to put a steady hand on her shoulder, hold her still as what could only be the clan leader stormed his way through the church. “It’s okay girly, stay still for me.” She groaned again but relaxed back onto the hard,wooden bench.

Another door slammed open and Dorghu appeared in the main hall. “What the fuck happened?”

Tolar intercepted his boss right away, “Couple of gangsters jumped her on her way to her car. Beat the shit out of her.”

Dorghu glared straight ahead, “How bad? Why?”

With a deep breath Tolar started, “Fucked up her face pretty good, concussion, Mikel thinks they cracked or broke a couple ribs, knocked her shoulder out, covered in bruises.” He pursed his lips, cracked his knuckles repeatedly as Dorghu turned to look him in the eye finally, “She says they didn’t say anything, didn’t take nothin’… just bashed her over the back of the head and beat the shit out of her.” Dorghus jaw clenched, his teeth grinding together, his whole body visibly tense. Tolar continued, “She got a few shots off and they ran.” That got his bosses attention, “Put two bullets in one of ‘em. One in the shoulder, one in the leg. ”

“Where is he?” Dorghus eyes stared at Masha where she laid curled up on the front pew.

“Back room with Eoin and Marcus. Bad shape but alive, for now. I sent the others back to the bar, bleach the parking lot, there was quite a bit of blood plus Masha got sick, told them to pickup casings, shit like that. Cops never showed so…”

The leader nodded, “Go get him.” Without waiting for To’s response Dorghu walked towards Masha and Mikel.

Masha’s eyes were closed, but Mikel turned and stood up. “She’s in pretty bad shape but nothing that’s gonna kill her. Did as much as I could, but… she’s going to hurt for quite awhile. I can track down some pills for her in the morning. She wouldn’t take anything right now, I tried.” Mikel leaned a little closer and dropped his voice, “Nothing… bad…, they beat the shit out of her but that’s all.” Mikels eyes were tired and his hands tinged with blood. “She’ll need someone with her the next day or so, keep an eye on her and try to keep her awake, the concussion is pretty serious I think. **What about the other guy?”**

Dorghu turned to his friend and business partner, his jaw still clinched and his eyes hard, he spoke through gritted teeth. **“He won’t need a doctor.”**

Mikel nodded and picked up the faded, camouflage bag on the floor next to him. “Call me if she needs anything else.”

After a moment Dorghu knelt down in front of her, squeezed her elbow as gently as he could, “Wake up _Devochka_.”

Her eyes fluttered and only one opened all the way. It was watery and narrow, more grey than blue. Her voice was weak and heavily accented, exhausted, “I’m awake.”

“Good.” His eyes roamed the red and raw side of her face, bruises had already formed around her eye socket, cheekbones and throat, and who knows where else on her body. “I’m going to have Tolar take you to the house.”

“No.” She cut him off, forced her eyes open wider. “I wanna go home.” Masha curled in tighter around herself, laying on her side, back against the pew, “I want to go to my home.”

She looked so weak, so broken. She reeked of fear and it made Dorghu’s stomach turn. Finally he nodded and looked away, “Okay _Devochka_. Tolar will take you home.” With that he stood and stalked to the front of the room where the three remaining clan members stood, a bloody and babbling gangster on his knees between them. **“Tolar, take her home and stay with her until I tell you otherwise.”**

Tolar nodded and went to collect Masha. When they were both safely out the door Dorghu turned his sights on the Hispanic. “Stand up.’ When he didn’t listen he said louder, “Stand his ass up.”

As soon as the gangster was on his feet Dorghu shoved him back against the wall, hard enough his head bounced.

“What does Altamira want with a bartender?” He snarled in the mans tattooed and bloody face.

“Puerco comes to our hood, we come to puercos.” He got out a few laughs before Dorghus fist crashed into his face.

“Well, gang bangers come into our neighborhood, they don’t all leave.” Dorghu paced a little while Eoin stood the gangster back up. “Shit, we’ve got women tougher than you mother fucker!” Dorghu peeled off his jacket and hung it over the chair under the tree of antlers. “You beat a girl, sneak up on her in a dark alley, jump her from behind,” He smashed another punch to his face, blood spewing from the gangsters mouth as he tipped into Marcus who shoved him back.

He laughed again, “We heard the head pig was fucking some little human piece. I don’t blame you. She was pretty cute,” He spit some blood out on the floor, “Too bad about her face.”

The next punch sent him to the ground, more blood pouring from his mouth followed by the satisfying tick of a tooth hitting the floor. Dorghu reached down and grabbed him by the chin, hauling him to his feet and holding him to the wall by the throat. The gang bangers feet kicked a few inches off the ground as Dorghu held him with one hand and snarled in his face, “That girl would kick your ass if you weren’t such a pussy. You and your home boys so scared of a little human piece that you have to bash her head in before you attack her?”

The Mexican was choking between Dorghus grip and his own blood running back down his throat. As he started coughing up blood, getting it all over Dorghus arm he dropped him to the ground, he immediately fell to his hands and knees only to be laid out completely, face first, by another punch.

“Ha! Even then she gets the best of your ass!” With something between a growl and a laugh he grinds the bottom of his boot against the bullet hole in the back of the gang bangers thigh. While he screams and spits up more blood Dorghu nods to his men and they move to pull back the heavy, steel plates covering the pit. Dorghu once again picks the gangster up by the throat and drags him to the edge. “If any other Altamira cross into our territory again, if any other Altamira lays a hand on anyone connected to us, if I even hear that Altamira talked about driving through one of our neighborhoods, I will find them, I will kill all of them, and I won’t stop until this pit is full of bodies. Understand?”

The gang banger sobbed and coughed before he finally choked out a yes. His hands pried at Dorghus vice like grip, “I will tell.”

Dorghu laughed, “No… you won’t.” With terrifying ease he picked the gangster up and tossed him, one handed, into the pit. He was still screaming his way down when Dorghu nodded for Eoin and Marcus to cover the hole with the sheets of steel.


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I apologize for the delay, more laptop struggles but I think I have my shit straightened out. Finally! So, here is the newest chapter!
> 
> **Orcish is this** and _this is Russian_
> 
> Mostly aftermath of previous chapter which you can read here, mostly Dorghu, Mikey and Masha(OC)
> 
> This is the chapter where the events of Bright take place, towards the end, but they are not directly included in my story except in mentioning.

Chapter Eight

Every body part she could name hurt. It hurt to breath, to sit at a desk, to walk, to drive, and yet here she was.

Ryon looked up from the counter when she walked in the door. “Masha? What the hell are you doing here?” He stepped out from behind the front counter, wiping his grease and oil stained hands on his shirt before he grabbed for her arm.

“No, no, don’t…” She held up her hands to keep him away. “I’m fine. I needed to come go over the transactions and statements for the last few months and see if we can swing some improvements without…” She took a shallow breath, “Without looking too suspicious.”

Ryon looked out the window into the shop then back to Masha, “Shouldn’t you be at home, resting?”

She had to hand it to the poor guy, he looked genuinely concerned. “Ryon, I’m just going to be sitting at a desk.” She continued down the hall towards the office, “Besides, look at all these big, strong guys that will come running to my aid if any more Mexicans show up.”

Her sarcasm went unappreciated, all he did was stare back at her with wide, yellow eyes. “Fine… just… please, don’t get me fired. If Dorghu finds out you’re here…”

“He won’t.” Masha pushed open the grungy office door and headed straight for the desk chair. “And if he does, tell him I held you at gunpoint.” When he didn’t respond Masha hit the power button on the outdated desktop computer and stared at him out the corner of her eye, it hurt too much to actually turn her head and look. “Ryon, I will point my gun at you if it will get you to leave me alone.”

The mechanic shifted his weight uncomfortably, rubbed a dirty hand across his chin, scratched at his lip where it bulged around one tusk, “Okay, but, just…”

“What? Don’t let the computer beat me up?” Masha swiveled the chair to face him, eyebrow cocked dangerously.

“Okay, well, if you need somethin’ come grab one of us, or scream or throw the chair through the fucking window.” His words turned to mumbles as he turned to leave the office.

Masha sighed and slouched back in her chair, **“Ryon,”** She called after him and smiled tensely, **“Thank you for worrying.”**

**“Let me know if you need anything girly.”** He still looked unconvinced but did leave her to her work.

~~~~~~~

The sun was already twice as hot when she left the garage a couple hours later, but it wasn’t the heat that suffocated her as she walked to her car. “What are you doing here?”

“I own the garage, I can be here if I want.” Dorghu stood between his truck and Masha’s Cadillac. “You on the other hand, should not be here.”

Masha paused for a moment and then continued to her car. “Mikel owns the garage, technically, and I was working. Finding new places to clean your money, you’re welcome. How did you know I was here.” She followed his gaze over her shoulder and then rolled her eyes, regretting it immediately as it made her headache worse. “Fucking snitches.”

“Masha. You should be home, resting, it’s too soon.”

“I’m fine, I need to go to the bar, are you going to have someone babysit me there too or are you going to do it personally.” She went to shove past him but he did not budge.

“Devochka,” His tone was a warning. “You need to go home. You could get yourself hurt, worse than you already are.”

“Why? DId you piss someone else off that might decide to take it out on me?” She succeeded in shoving past him this time and jerked her car door open only to have it slammed shut again.

“You don’t get to say that! You think I don’t already feel the guilt of this?”

Anger swelled inside her like she hadn’t felt in years, “You know what, your guilt might actually mean shit to me if… I mean c’mon Dorghu, you’re a fucking gangster, a big, scary, boss gangster sure, but still just a fucking gangster. And I’m just some dumb piece of ass that’s sleeping with the guy that banks my paychecks. That’s why they jumped me right? They found out… found out, we were fucking around. Thought they could use me to send you a message.”

The surprise that snuck across his face spurred her on.

“What, you think you’re the only one with snitches?” Her laugh was dry and humorless. “Guess we are all lucky I was the one and not…No, fuck it, never mind, it’s my own damn fault. Forget I said anything.“ She went to rip the door open again and this time Dorghu simply placed one hand against the window and leaned into it with all his weight. The movement also brought him closer to her. Masha snarled in his face, _“Get off my fucking car!”_

**“You mean my fucking car? I paid for it right? Be careful acting like you’re just some dumb bitch, I might start treating you like one.”** He snarled back at her.

Masha stared up at him and took a menacing step forward, _“Remove your hand, from my car, or I will break your arm, I swear on all that you find holy.”_ Her voice was soft and low but the words were still heavy with anger. When he did not respond in any way Masha drew the pistol from her waistband and took a step back so that she could hold it an inch away from his elbow. _“Move!”_ Again, he did not respond so she racked a round into the chamber and moved to point it at the center of his chest. “I said move.”

They glared at each other for a tense moment, Dorghu inhaled deeply before growling and stepping back from the car. He shoved off the window so hard the Cadillac rocked side to side.

Her eyes stayed trained on him as she flipped the handguns safety on and opened the drivers side door. She didn’t look away until she turned over the ignition and backed her coupe out onto the pothole infested side street. Masha paid no mind to Dorghu’s eyes following her car. Nor did she pay any attention to Dorghu smashing out the back passenger side window of his truck with a bare fist.

~~~~~~~ A Few Weeks Later ~~~~~~~

There was a knock on the office door and Masha jumped, then immediately flinched at the resulting pain. **“It’s open.”**

**“Hey sweetie. How are you feeling?”** Nessa stuck her head in the door first and then walked the rest of the way in.

Masha sat up straighter, best she could, and put on a forced smile. “Like shit. But, I’m alright. Ribs take awhile to heal and my skin looks a little more orc than human,” She pulled the bottom of her shirt up to reveal the enormous black and blue patterns over her stomach and sides, “See, these ones are even turning green.” The laugh was dark and self-depreciating and hurt her barely healed ribs. The look on her friends face told her what she couldn’t say, “Nessa, I’m fine. Really. It’s been weeks.”

“Are you sure?” Nessa walked further into the office and sat on the edge of the desk.

“You’re not asking about the beating are you?” Masha heaved a sigh and settled herself deeper into the chair. “We are not going to talk about that.”

“Masha, come on.”

“No.” Her stare had a bite to it and it held, unwavering until Nessa backed down.

The young orc shrugged, a defeated grimace took over her normally joyful expression. “Ok, fine. Excuse the hell out of me for worrying about my friend.”

Before Nessa could leave Masha stopped her, “Hey, I’m sorry. It’s just… there’s nothing to talk about.”

Nessa turned around, halfway to the door, **“Tolar says he’s been out of control since. Violent, angry, bloodthirsty. Well… more than normal.”** Nessa looked at the floor and then back up.

**“I have no say in what he does Nessa.”**

**“You do, if you would talk to him.”**

**“We talked. We said what we needed to say.”**

Nessa shook her head again, earrings swinging back and forth, as she pulled the door open and made to leave. Something stopped her and she turned back to say, “I’m sure I know the answer but, are you coming to the party tonight?” Masha gave nothing but the same stare and Nessa knew her well enough to know what that meant.

~~~~~~~ A Few More Weeks Later ~~~~~~~

It felt good to hit something, really good. It felt less good when it hit back but that was how it worked. Masha threw another combination and slipped her opponents jab only to take a hard knee to the ribs. She sucked in a breath and stumbled backwards.

“Shit Masha, I’m sorry.”

“Nope, nope, nope, you’re good.” She struggled to catch her breath for a minute and then stood up straight. “I’ll be good just give me a second.” She shuffled to the edge of the mat and took a water bottle from one of the other fighters.

She had just handed the bottle back when the desk girl came around the corner, “Umm, Masha there’s a… there’s an orc kid here, says he needs to talk you you.” Everyone turned to look at Masha.

“Uh, yeah… I’ll- I’ll be right out.” Masha walked back towards her sparring partner, “Thanks man, felt good.” They touched gloves before Masha took off towards the entrance, peeling her gloves off on her way past one of the benches. She still had her wraps on when she walked into the lobby, “Mikey, what the hell are you doing here?”

The young orc flinched and jumped around to face her, “Hey! Hey, I know I probably shouldn’t be here… but I had to.”

Masha glanced from Mikey to the desk girl, not unaware of the two fighters that had followed and stood back at a distance. **“Let’s go outside.”** She nodded to the main doors behind Mikey and followed him out onto the sidewalk. **“I ask again, what the hell are you doing here? Are you okay?”**

**“I’m fine. It’s… Dad’s not.”**

**“What happened?”** Masha became angry with herself at the concern in her voice.

**“Nothing, he’s fine, sort of. Masha - Masha I’m scared, he’s… I don’t know. I just know it’s not good.”** Mikey paced up and down a few yards of sidewalk, nervous, uncertain and obviously very upset. **“Masha I’m worried. I think he needs you back, or else it’s just going to get worse.”**

**“Mikey… I have no control over your father, and you know who he is… sometimes he has to be ruthless.”**

**“He’s never been this bad before!”** Mikey and Masha were both shocked by his outburst. “I’m sorry Masha, it’s… It’s just that I’m - I’m scared.”

Masha paced in a small circle, her wrapped hands covering her face and smoothing over her tightly braided hair. “Mikey, you know that I love you, and I will always help you if you need it… but, this isn’t something I can fix. It’s not my place to… interfere with your father and what he does. You know that.”

The hurt on his face hit her harder than the knee to her ribs had just moments ago. It made her sick to her stomach. He paced some more before he turned back to face her, “I know. I’m sorry, I just… don’t know who else to go to.” He shoved his hands deep in his pockets, “I miss you, ya know.”

Masha stepped up towards him immediately and wrapped him in a hug, “Hey, not like I went anywhere, I’m still right here.”

Mikey hugged her back, mindful of his grip, and rested his head against hers, “I know, but I liked it better when you were around the house and I wasn’t scared to come see you at work.” He laughed but it was half-hearted.

“Mikey, hey, look at me.” She manuevered out of his hug and gripped his face with both her hands. Masha waited until he focused both his eyes down towards her, “You need me, and I will be there. Anything. Anytime. Anywhere.” She paused, indulged herself in bringing his forehead back down to hers, “If I could help you with this you know I would.”

“I know. I know Masha.” He stood up straight and nodded.

**“You better get to the party kid.”** Masha stood outside in her shorts and sports bra, watching him leave, the sidewalk still warm on her bare feet even in the darkness of the evening. At the end of the block he pulled his hood up over his head and turned the corner, but Masha stood there for another minute, staring at the place she had last seen him.

~~~~~~~~

The hot water helped but everything hurt. Literally, everything. Masha only allowed herself to focus on the physical pain, the pain she knew how to handle. After she got out of the shower it was already past midnight and now even her eyes hurt from lack of sleep. She quickly put lotion on her tattoos, pulled a shirt over herself and laid on top of the blankets..

It took her forever to find a comfortable position to lay in. Her ribs had had plenty of time to heal and really didn’t bother her too much, her face was healed with only one small scar on her cheekbone to show for it, but the bruises were still amazingly tender which made it hard to get comfy no matter what she did. She was always laying on a bruise.

WIth a sigh of relief, Masha found a tolerable position and pulled the cool sheet up around her, ready to hopefully get some sleep. Then her phone rang on the nightstand next to her. For a moment she stared at the ceiling, refused to move, but she knew that calls this late at night were never a good thing and she didn’t have it in her to ignore whoever it may be. Especially when she saw the name on the caller ID. “Mikey?” She sat up in bed, ignoring the pain, and did not like the sound of his voice. “ Mikey, Mikey slow down and tell me what’s wrong?”

~~~~~~~

The last thing Dorghu expected to see when he got home that night, after everything else that had happened, what surprised him more than anything was when he walked into his kitchen to find Masha sitting at his table. He stopped just inside the door, looked over her tired eyes, messy hair, still damp from a shower or the rain and noticed she was wearing her favorite jeans and hoodie. “What are you doing here?”

She slouched back in the chair with gritted teeth and took a sip of the coffee she had made, “Mikey called me to come pick him up.”

Dorghu shrugged out of his jacket and walked over to the table to hang it over the back of one of the chairs, “Thank you for doing that. Where is he?”

Masha nodded and scratched a hand through her tangled hair. “Yeah, of course. He’s upstairs.” She propped her head up in her palm unsure of what to say or do. Until she saw it, “Your hand.” She pointed at blood covered palm as she stood up and walked to the door, leaving him to lean against the counter until she returned with her duffle bag. When she set it on the table she caught his skeptical look. “Oh please, after a few years of laundering your money and patching up your boys, I get a call and I come prepared.” She slid herself up to sit on the table, “Sit.”

He looked her over, skeptical.

“C’mon.” She unzipped her bag and pulled out the rather impressive first aid kit she had put together over time and pointed at the chair in front of her. At first Dorghu didn’t move but Mashas glare did not waver, _“Come. Sit. Give me your hand.”_ Still he did not move. _“Now.”_

He huffed out a sigh and came to the table. He glared back at her only his glare did soften as he sat, “You haven’t yelled at me in Russian in awhile.”

Masha reached for his hand, “Not to your face at least. Scoot closer.”

He held his hand up to her and slid the chair further under the table, slouching back into it. He stared at her hands as she slipped the rings off his fingers and went about cleaning his hand. “Your accent is thick tonight.”

“Tired, haven’t been sleeping well.” She laid his hand on her thigh, palm up while she opened another alcohol wipe. “So, who was it?” When he stared back at her blankly she tapped his hand, below the cut.

Dorghu snorted, “Fuckin’ orc cop.”

Masha paused, _“Seriously? Shit.”_ She went back to work cleaning the edges of the cut. _“What happened?”_

He shook his head, “Don’t wanna talk about it.”

“Tough Shit.” Her eyes narrowed, crinkled in the corners, and one eyebrow arched slightly.

A low growl reverberated through the kitchen, ending with Dorghu leaning forward, resting his elbow on the table next to Mashas left leg. He rested his head in his hand, rubbing at his brow. “I don’t fuckin’ know. Bad night. Bad month. Bad fucking summer.” He turned to watch her work on his hand, She laid it down again on her thigh while she dug in the kit for something else. His eyes settled on his hand, where his knuckles brushed against her skin through a frayed rip in her jeans. **“I killed him.”**

Masha turned back to him, a tube of super glue in hand, _“What? Killed who?”_

**“The round tooth, the cop.”** He flexed his hand in and out of a fist, snarling at the pain but finding a twisted pleasure in it too.

_“What… what do you mean? You blooded him and then killed him?”_ She flattened his hand out again, but her eyes focused on his face.

**“No, after.”**

_“Dorghu, what are you talking about?”_

He slumped back in his chair, “I shot him. Shot him right in the middle of his fuckin’ chest. Dropped down the pit and everything.” He took a deep breath and surprised the both of them when it shook. “Some, elf girl…had the fucking wand, fucking bright. She brought him back.”

“Brought him back,” Masha questioned, even more confused, “You mean brought him back from the dead?”

All he did was nod.

“The wand? It’s real?”

Again he nodded.

“Holy fuck.” Unsure of what else to do she set about pinching the skin together and gluing it closed. “Is that what has Mikey so messed up?”

Dorghu sighed, grating his teeth a little against the sting of the glue in his open wound. “No, he wasn’t there for that part.” He stayed silent while she pinched and glued, until she was about halfway done. “I told him to do it, to earn his colors. But, he couldn’t, said the cop had saved his life, so I sent him away and did it myself.”

Masha paused in her work, holding a portion of the cut together while the glue dried. Looked over the orc in front of her. He was shaken, uncertain. Two things she had never seen in him before. _“He’s a kid. I mean I get… I get why you asked something of him. He’s your only son, he’s of age, you’re the clan leader. I… get it. But Dorghu, why that? Why make him kill someone? There’s way less, well, terrible ways to initiate him.”_

He let out another long sigh, “I don’t know. Fuck, I don’t know anything right now.”

She nodded as she glued the end of the cut together, “Okay.” After a minute she ran a finger over the wound, the super glued skin a weird difference in texture compared to thick, rough, calloused flesh of his palm. His hand twitched a little at the touch and she let it go. “New one added to the collection.”

Dorghu left his hand resting on her leg, flexed it in and out of a fist with a nod. His palm was littered with scars like this one would soon become. He looked at Masha, looked her in the eye, for the first time since he had entered the house, longer than that even. Before her he had left the cuts to heal on their own, but over the last few years her cleaning and patching the self inflicted wounds had become almost like a part of the ritual for him. Her soft hands putting his back together. **“Thank you. For coming when Mikey called and for this.”**

“Of course.” She sat on the table in front of him, the both of them silent. Finally she couldn’t take it anymore. She needed to escape, “I’m gonna head home.” She reached to shove supplies back into her bag but Dorghu’s wounded hand reached for hers.

“No, stop.” His good ear twitched a little at the way she looked at him. “I need to talk to Mikey, but…I need to talk to you too.” His hand clamped around hers and his other arm rested across her thigh, **“Stay.”**

****

She stared down at him in shock, from her perch on the kitchen table. “Okay.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Dorghu knocked at the door, quietly in case he was asleep.

“Yeah?” Mikey called from inside.

Dorghu opened the door and stepped inside before closing it behind him. He saw Mikey laying sideways across his bed, staring at the ceiling. His son looked up at him and immediately sat up, “I’m sorry.”

Before Mikey could say another word Dorghu held up his hand to stop him. He looked the boy over, watched him try not to fidget under the scrutiny. “I’m proud of you.”

Mikey’s jaw hung loose, his eyes blinked rapidly.

Dorghu leaned back against his sons bedroom door, “It took more strength to say no to me than it would have to kill that cop.”

“But…” Mikey searched for words that would work, “But… I - I disobeyed you. You’re the clan leader, my father, and I disobeyed you.” The younger orc hung his head.

“Yes you did,” he scratched at the back of his head, “But, for the right reasons. Mikey, it showed honor, loyalty, courage. Those are all more important than being able to follow orders.” He let out a breath, finally released some of the tension in his chest,

“But, that’s what we are supposed to do, do as we are told. You’ve…. killed for less…”

“For the good of our clan, for our family. Mikey… I asked this of you because I needed proof that you could do this, that you had what it takes to lead, to take my place one day. Tonight you proved that you’re a better orc than I am, and that’s all any father wishes for.”

Mikey did not know what to say for awhile, and so they stayed in silence. When Mikey did speak, it was soft and low, “I can’t do the- the things you do.”

Dorghu stepped forward, away from the door for the first time, to kneel in front of his son. He clamped a hand on his shoulder and shook him until Mikey looked him in the eye, “I do the things I do so that when it’s your turn, you won’t have to.”

The younger orc nodded, sniffing roughly before dragging a hand down his face. He noticed the mark on his father’s hand, “Who?”

Something eerily close to a smile formed on his father’s face as he flattened out his sliced palm, “The orc cop.”

Mikey’s eyes widened, “R-really?’

Dorghu stood and nodded, “He is alive, and I am proud of you.” He leaned down and rested their foreheads together, like they had hours before at the church. “There is more to it, but that can wait until morning. For now, sleep.”

He had the door open when Mikey stood up and asked after him, “Dad, is… is Masha still here?”

Dorghu sniffed the air once and nodded, “Yes, why?”

“I don’t know, I guess, just… wondering.”

“Get some sleep.” Dorghu left the room and closed the door behind him. Relieved that some of the weight was gone from his chest.

~~~~~~~~~

Masha was standing by the coffee maker when he came back into the kitchen and she thought he looked a little less pained. “How is he?”

He stopped at the doorway to the kitchen, leaned on his shoulder against the door jam. “He’s okay for now.” He stared directly at her for several seconds, “How are you?”

She snorted and set her coffee cup down to fill it with the last of the pot. “I’m not the one that watched somebody get magicked back from the dead.” When she got no response she took a sip of the coffee, her back to him, and ignored the burn. “I’m fine.”

“Masha,”

“No,” She turned to face him, her eyes still a tired grey. “Whatever it is, no. I came for Mikey, I patched you up for the hundredth time, I did what you needed.”

This time he cut her off, “I need you to stay.”

Her eyes took on a primal scowl, she looked like she had every intention of taking him apart at the joints, but then it was gone. “I’m going home.” She set her coffee down, sloshing some onto the counter and headed for the door.

“No, you’re running away, hiding. Which is apparently what you do now!” He pushed off the doorway and took a few strides after her, “I never once thought you were that kind, but all you do now is run away. What happened to the girl that faced down that orc on the street? What happened to the girl that pointed a gun at my chest?” He slapped himself in the center of the chest, hard. “What the fuck happened to her?”

Masha spun, her teeth clenched in a snarl and her eyes dark and murderous, “She got soft, and it almost got her killed!” She strode the few feet between them and stood on her toes so they were as close to face to face as they could get. “And then when she thought maybe it was okay to be soft, because there was someone next to her that wasn’t! That motherfucker turned his fucking back!”

“I didn’t turn my back, you pushed me away! I kept my distance because I’m the reason you were almost killed!” HIs voice was loud and rough with anger and exhaustion as he growled down at her. “It was like my wife all over again, and I couldn’t take that shit twice!”

Masha froze. She settled back onto her heels and shrunk back. “That’s why you wanted the wand.”

Dorghu stood still, chest heaving and a snarl still peeled his lips away from his tusks.

“Fucking hell, of course it is. Of course- I- I don’t blame you.” She took another step back. Deflated. “I know you miss her.”

“I couldn’t protect her, and she’s gone.” Dorghus fists clenched at his sides, “I couldn’t protect you, and you’re as good as gone…”

Masha groaned and in a fit turned to smash her fist against the wall. Nothing happened but her shoulders did relax a little before she faced him again, “I’m not gone, Dorghu I’m right here! I just don’t know how to be here, ‘cause I’m not her, I’m not an orc, I’m not clan, I’m not anything!”

Dorghu covered the distance between them in two steps and had her backed into the wall, without even touching her, and slammed his own palms against it. “You won’t let me keep you close, you get hurt if I do keep you close, you get hurt if I push you away. What the fuck am I supposed to do? Hmm?”

Masha finally broke under the weight she had been carrying for the past several weeks and slid to the floor. Her back to the wall, knees drawn up to her chest and face buried in her hands, “I don’t fucking know.”  
“Maybe yelling at each other isn’t the way to figure it out.”

They both snapped their heads around, Dorghu shoved back from the wall, “Mikey, what the hell are you doing? I told you to go to sleep.”

Mikey shuffled into the kitchen, but kept his distance. “Yeah, well, that’s kind of hard when you two are yelling and punching walls.”

Masha wiped at her face with the sleeve of her hoodie and stood back up, “Mikey I’m sorry. You, you go back upstairs, I’ll - I’ll go home. It’s been a long night for everyone.”

“No.” Mikey shook his head. “That’s not what either of you want. If you wanted to leave you would have left when Dad came to talk to me, or before he even got here. If you wanted her to leave you would have told her to.” When they both just stared back at him, shocked, he continued, a little more sure of himself now. “You feel guilty because you haven’t loved anyone since Mom died and- and you blame yourself for mom getting hurt, and you blame yourself for Masha getting hurt too.”

“Mikey…’ Masha shook her head, trying to get him to stop. Silently begging him to stop.

“And you, you’ve always been the tough girl that handles her own problems. But then something bad happened and you didn’t see it coming. So, now you think you’re weak. And you both blame yourselves and you blame each other, but all you do about it is get mad and ignore each other.”

“Mikey that’s enough!” Dorghu finally yelled. “Go back upstairs.”

Mikey ducked his head a little, “I’m sorry.” he looked over at Masha, “I just… never mind.” He ducked his head, submitting to his father, and then went back up to his room. Leaving Dorghu and Masha alone in the kitchen again.

Without looking at her Dorghu asked, voice softer, “Why did you stay?”

“I didn’t want Mikey to be alone.”

“I mean after that, after I got back, you could have left.”

Masha turned away from him to stare at the front door. “I don’t know, because you told me to.”

“That’s bullshit.” He turned to her but found she was not looking at him, but instead the door. He took a deep breath and with it noticed that the room no longer stunk of anger. “If I had taken you home with me when I left that night, you would never have been hurt.”

“We can’t play the what if game Dorghu, nobody ever wins. What if I had stayed until all the others had left? Oein and Cotton wouldn’t have found me. What if they’d known I had a gun? Maybe they would have just shot me. All that does is make more problems, is that what you want? To torture both of us? More?”

He turned to look at her, carefully, intently. “ I want to know what you want.”

She rolled her eyes at his use of the loophole, exhausted and exasperated. “Ok. You know what I want? I want to go back to that night. The way it should have been. I want to leave the bar, come here, take a shower, crawl into bed, have my brains fucked out and wake up with with your arms around me and your stupid fucking tusks tangled in my hair, because you never could help but fall asleep with your face against my neck.” She paused to steady herself, control the bitter laughter. “But life doesn’t work that way. There is no backward only forward. So, what do you want? Now? Because personally, I’m tired of whatever the fuck this is where we just… hate each other and pretend nothing happened.”

He returned her stare and took a step in her direction, “What you said all sounds good to me.”

“I don’t know if it works like that either.” Masha pulled her hands into the sleeves of her hoodie.

“I want you to trust me again.” The real fight over he regained some of his normal, alpha-male mentality. “And the other stuff would be nice too.” He paced for a moment and then turned back, “I want you with me, where I know I can protect you.”

“If that’s what you want, you have a strange way of getting it.”

“We both know I can be difficult.”

“And stupid?” Masha crossed her arms, hands still tucked in her sleeves.

Dorghu snorted out something like a laugh, “If I admit to that, will you stay?”

For lack of something better to do Masha walked back to her coffee cup and took a drink. “Why do you want me to stay so bad?” She watched him out the corner of her eye as he approached her. Slow but purposeful.

He came to stand behind her, but did not touch her, not at first. When he did he leaned forward, rested his forehead against the back of hers, buried his nose in her hair and breathed her in.

Her chest was heavy and her throat too tight to swallow. She could hear her own blood rushing in her ears and it made her dizzy.

**“You’re not the only one that hasn’t been sleeping well.”** He still did not touch her with his hands, but he did close his eyes and lean a little further into her. **“You want to stay.”** He took another deep breath. **“Tell me I’m wrong.”**

Masha wavered slightly, leaned back against him and then stood up straight.

**“Tell me I’m right.”** He leaned into her again, completely this time. His chest flush against her back, his hands braced against the counter to hold most of his weight.

She shuddered, felt her skin flush but still she refused to look at him. _“Tell me you aren’t going to try and kill yourself chasing after magic wands you can’t use. Tell me you are done killing of cops.”_ She paused to pull in an almost calming breath. _“Tell my you’re done fucking around with other girls.”_ She took another, deeper breath, _“Even when I'm the one being difficult and stupid.”_

The air in the kitchen became lighter and easier to breath. Dorghu let out the first easy breath he’d had in months and tilted his head so that his words fell directly into her ear. “It’s late, let’s go to bed.” After a moment Masha surrendered and leaned back against him. He groaned softly and pressed her harder into the counter, arms wrapped around her tightly.


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Smut happens
> 
> _Russian_ and **Bodzvokhan**

Chapter Nine

Masha listened to the shower run as she dug through the closet for something to sleep in. Her brain was foggy and she still felt like they had not really resolved anything. Yet, here she was crawling into his bed again. By the time the shower turned off she had changed out of her jeans and hoodie and was laying on the bed, head propped up on both pillows, eyes trained on the ceiling. The room was dark except for the strip of light from under the bathroom door

After a minute the door opened and Masha rolled her head to the side and watched him dry off in front of the mirror. Dorghu was not young and his body showed that. Muscles no longer cut and clean, lacking definition, but they were still there, just underneath the rough, scarred, dark blue skin that comes with life and experience. However, his arms and legs were still thick and taught thanks to his inability to let the younger guys have all the fun.

He came out of the bathroom with a towel around his waist, held up by one hand. With the other he hit the light switch and everything went black. His eyes much more comfortable in the darkness than hers, he could see just as well as if every light in the room was on. 

She could feel his eyes on her as he stood in the door, staring at her laid on his bed.

“You know females aren’t allowed to wear our colors.”

Masha scooted up on the bed a ways, bringing one knee up to her chest. “Pretty sure there’s nobody here that will yell at me. Except you.”

He laughed, shifted his weight from one leg to another, “You going to make me put clothes on before I get in?”

Her eyes adjusted enough she could make out his outline. “No, it’s fine. I know how much you hate that.”

Relieved he grunted and let the towel fall, tossing it one handed over the shower door before he walked to the bed. Even the oversized, sturdy built, bed creaked with his weight and it continued to do so until he had situated himself and pulled the sheet up over his bottom half. He looked her over slowly, with his right arm folded behind his head and the other resting low on his stomach. “You know I could force you to take that off.”

She looked down at the shirt and then back over to him, “And I could go back and sleep in my own bed.”

He chuckled again while his left hand left his stomach and moved to pinch the front of the shirt. The thick, meshy material of the jersey rolled between his fingers “You’re lucky it looks good on you.”

She heard him inhale but still could not see enough to know for sure where he was looking, though she had an idea.

“Too bad it doesn’t smell like me anymore.”

Masha shifted in the bed, slid lower so she was more laying down than sitting up, “Did you ever actually wear it?”

“No.” He kept rolling the fabric between his fingers, “Have to wear the flash. Was holding on to it and a few others for Mikey, but… maybe I’ll let you keep this one instead.”

“Not allowed, remember.” She felt very tired all the sudden, Dorghu settling his hand palm down over stomach added a comforting weight that had her eyes fighting to slip closed.

He began opening and closing his fist, rubbing the fabric over her stomach with each stroke, “You would only be allowed to wear it here.”

“Hmm.’ She wasn’t sure what else to say, her eyes had started to burn unless she kept them closed.

“Come here.” He tugged on the shirt and added with a sigh, “I’ll behave until you tell me to do otherwise.” when she didn’t budge.

She didn’t have much fight left in her and the craving was too strong. So, she moved across the bed, closer to him and crawled under the sheet as he laid his arm out flat over the pillows, making a place for her. When her head laid against his shoulder she was hit by a flood of sensations and emotions. The strongest of which was exhaustion. Mental, physical, emotional. Pure exhaustion.

He kept his right arm bent under his head while his left wrapped around her, coming to rest with his hand draped around her waist. **“Get some rest, love.”**

~~~~~~~~~~~

Masha woke up some time later, it was still very much dark outside, and Dorghu snored next to her in the same position he had been in when she fell asleep. The constant ache in her body was back and she knew she wouldn’t get back to sleep. As carefully as she could she rolled to the other side and scrunched her face up against the pain.

Behind her Dorghu’s snoring stopped and she felt as much as heard him take a deep breath. She expected him to say something but instead the arm beneath her head flattened out across the mattress and his other hand came to rest on her thigh, just below the hem of the jersey. Masha tensed even more. Then his hand started to move, slide up and down her thigh with the slightest bit of pressure. After a few passes her skin felt warm and tingly and his hand travelled up over her hip where his palm rolled and rubbed, along with his fingers until her hip was also warmed what felt like to the bone.

Masha relaxed a little and when she felt a nudge at her back, a flat palm pushing her away, she went with it until the same hand cupped her side to stop her once she had rolled onto her stomach. Under her shirt his hand continued the work, rubbing, warming and then kneading all across her shoulders, the back of her neck, up and down her spine.

His large hand and fingers had finished her back in what seemed like no time and Masha was almost asleep when he tugged at her side and rolled her over onto her back again. Once she had settled, he started over on her opposite thigh and repeated the process up, over her hip and side then focused on the worst of it over her stomach and ribs.

**“Better?”** His voice was thick with sleep and right next to her ear.

She hummed and nodded her head, eyes too heavy to open. _“Keep going.”_

He nodded, his head rubbing against hers, and kept up his basic, but evidently very effective massage. Dorghu laid back down, his head on the pillow next to hers, and continued his attention. **“Go back to sleep love.”** Masha hummed again, already half asleep, before she shifted onto her side. Immediately Dorghu pulled her back tight against his chest, his hand still traveled from her knee to her ribs and back.

Masha could feel sleep coming back, just out of reach. Her mind was occupied, occupied by his hand moving and his chest expanding, his breath against the back of her neck. With every pass his hand crept higher, an edge of a finger brushing against a breast or following the crease of her hip until a fingertip brushed against the coarse hair that hadn’t been there the last time he had touched her like that.

She kept her eyes closed, struggled to regulate her breathing and stop herself from squirming until he was done with his teasing. He openly groped at her tits, dragging the tips of his fingers over the flesh and across the nipple, motivated by her momentary lapse where she sighed and arched against him.

When his hand slid lower, over her stomach again until he came to the patch of hair between her thighs, she grabbed his hand with one of her own, _“I can’t.”_

He hummed, continued his path only taking her hand with him this time, **“Why?”**

Wide awake now Masha stared at the far wall and stopped his hand again, _“I just can’t.”_

With his left hand he held hers against her stomach and let his other move to where he wanted it. **“Why, you don’t trust me anymore?”**

“No, it’s.. I just can’t.”

His middle finger slipped over her clit and towards her pussy. Hungry for the feeling of her wrapped around him again, but he froze. His finger, and then his entire hand slid over her, his middle finger tried to slide between her folds but he stopped and pulled his hand up to lay on her stomach. She was completely dry. “What’s wrong?”

Her head shook, a hand came up to push her hair back roughly. “Nothing, it just happens.”

Dorghu’s response surprised her, “Tell me what’s wrong Masha. Is it something I did? Are you scared? Uncomfortable?” He sounded an almost endearing combination of clueless and insecure and so Masha answered him

“No, it’s - I wouldn’t be in your bed if I didn’t want to be.” She sighed and rolled onto her back to see him better. “It’s just too much stress, too much pain. It’s natural.”

His hand flexed over her stomach and he was quiet for a minute and Masha knew without seeing or feeling that his body had reacted just fine. She expected he was trying to figure out a way to take care of the hard on he had given himself while rubbing her down. She was wrong. “Tell me what to do.”

She rolled her head to look at him, a little surprised. “Umm, just… hold me like you were.”

He pulled her back to his chest and wrapped both arms around her, his right hand laid over the bite scars he had left on her neck way back when and his thumb began to glide back and forth over her throat, “This okay?”

Masha tried not to think much about it as she began to feel sleep creeping back, “Yeah, this is good.” She curled up on herself a little and wiggled back, tighter against him, her arms tangled around his. He shifted a little behind her trying to get comfortable and then finally rooted his face back into her mess of hair, the tip of one tusk just barely pressing against her neck . She mumbled out, “Mhmm.” Soft and drawn out and fell asleep to the rhythmic stroke of his thumb over the pulse in her neck.

~~~~~~~~

The next time she woke up the sun was in her face and she had to roll over before she could open her eyes. She took a moment to notice that the motion hadn’t hurt so bad before she looked around the room and found it empty. Carefully she sat up, still not in as much pain as she had been the morning before, and crawled out of the bed to walk to the bathroom.

Eventually she made it downstairs. She had put her jeans back on but couldn’t quite bring herself to take the Fogteeth jersey off, though she had the bottom of one side tucked into the pocket of her jeans so it fit her a little better.

Dorghu looked up when she came in the kitchen, one ear twitched as he looked her over.

“What time is it?” Masha honed in on the second coffee cup on the counter in front of him and headed straight for it.

“Late. you were out cold when I got up.” He watched her as she reached for the cup and filled it. “How do you feel?”

She took a sip of the bitter, black coffee as she did a mental evaluation of her body. “I feel pretty good actually.” She set the coffee cup down and braced her hands on the edge of the counter, “Help me up?”

With his own coffee in one hand he reached the other down to grab the back of her thigh and hoist her up to sit on the counter. They stayed there for a moment silently drinking their coffee. Masha saw something cross his face, like he meant to say something. She stopped him by setting her cup down on the counter and carefully pulling him down to her by the collar of his t-shirt.

Dorghu let her pull him down and let out a surprised growl when her tiny mouth pressed against his. He was trying as much as he could to keep his tusks away from her face but it proved difficult as he followed her lead and let the kiss become rougher, sloppier. She knew him too well by now and pulled away from him just as he started to get carried away.

Masha smiled softly and enjoyed the weight of him leaned against her, his bald head rubbing against her sleep tousled hair as he shook his head side to side, slowly. HIs one hand had a firm grip on her thigh but he loosened it as soon as he realized. When they looked at each other again, his lips twitched into a barely there smile.

“So does this mean everything is back to normal?”

They pulled apart and turned to look at Mikey who stood by the fridge across the kitchen. Dorghu stood up straighter but left his hand resting on Masha’s thigh.

“Umm, yeah Mikey… I think so.” Masha answered as truthfully as she could while she still battled some uncertainties of her own. “I… need to go home and get cleaned up to go to the bar.”

“It’s not that late, stay here, rest awhile. “ Dorghu set his empty cup in the sink.

“No, Nessa is scheduled to work on her own today, I don’t want her alone after what went down last night.” Masha held her own coffee in both hands now.

Mikey perked up across the room, “I can go.” He shrunk half an inch when the adults looked his way but continued, “I mean I won’t be able to do office stuff but I can help her behind the bar, heavy lifting and stuff, and that way there’s someone there with her. Until you come in.” He nodded at Masha.

“Mikey, you had a rough night you should probably…”

“No.” He straightened himself up, “I want to help.”

Her eyelashes caught on her bangs when she glanced at Dorghu, _“It is up to you.”_

Dorghu stared first at Masha and then at his son. **“Go, but take my truck. I don’t want anyone walking around on their own right now.”**

Mikey smiled, wide enough to show all his teeth. **“Okay.”** He ran back up the stairs and came thundering back down and out the front door less than a minute later.

Masha couldn’t help but laugh lightly into her mug, “You two must have had a good talk last night.”

“We have more to talk about, but yes.” Dorghu moved so that he stood between her legs, a massive hand rested on the top of each knee, but left plenty of space between them. HIs ear twitched as they both heard his truck start up out in the driveway, then he focused his attention on Masha. “We have more to talk about too.”

WIth a deep breath Masha set her cup down and folded her hands between her thighs. “Do you love me Dorghu?”

She didn’t get the flinch she was expecting. Instead his face stayed stoic as his eyes darted about. She knew what he was looking at. His hands on her lean legs,taking in the way his body dwarfed hers in every way despite her height and athletic build. The shirt she still wore, against the rules of his gang, and how it hung extremely large and loose over her shoulders, concealing her curves completely under the multitude of extra fabric. The scars on her neck, a reminder of his own loss of control and lapse in judgement when his mind is clouded with her. Her mouth, so small yet so rough and harsh with actions and with words, with it’s fuller bottom lip and the top that curved up to expose the bottoms of her two front teeth when she was relaxed. Eyes that were a reminder of the coldness and intensity of her home, eyes that he once told her reminded him of the water around the beaches of his own home, when she was happy at least.

“Yes.” He answered when his eyes finally shifted to focus on her as a whole.

Masha nodded, moved her hands to rest on top of his then slid them up the splatter patterns of his arms until she had her hands on each of his shoulders. “Then we don’t need to talk about anything.”

He let his hands slide up her thighs and around to the small of her back, “Are you sure?”

She pulled, used her hold on him to scoot closer to him at the edge of the counter, “I’m sure.” Instead of letting him answer she pulled him even closer, pressed her lips to his. Only this time she didn’t stop him when he started to get carried away.

When that realization hit him he growled and crushed her to him. His hands pushed up her back and her spine rolled of its own accord and had her arching into him. Her arms wrapped around his neck, one hand toyed with the torn cartilage of his right ear, lightly brushing along the edges. He snarled and moved his teeth to her own ear and bit down, “Stop that.”

Masha giggled and moved her hand to the back of his head. Her fingers rubbed and dug at the thick skin at the base of his skull while his mouth was doing terrible things to the side of her neck. His hands kept up their work on her back until the jersey she had slept in was bunched in one fist so he could press the other hand flat against the base of her spine. Masha moaned at the contact and pressed herself as close to him as possible while a wave of heat travelled from her head to her toes. “Fuck, baby I wish, I wish I could, I really do.” She moaned again as he drug his tusks up the front of her throat, one on each side of her windpipe.

He stood up straight for a second before he dropped his mouth back onto hers, his tongue forcing its way through her teeth and against hers. He growled again as her teeth drug over his long, thick tongue as he pulled it back. “Is it you, or your body that can’t?” Dorghu spoke directly against her lips.

His eyes were black with only a thin ring of gold around each, It made her body flush again and Masha clawed at the back of his t-shirt, “What do you think?”

His laugh was thick and filthy, “Trust me, _Devochka_?”

She had barely nodded when his hands slid under her ass and hoisted her up high, her legs wrapped around his middle and he held her easily with his arms locked underneath her. His face was level with her neck and she looked down at the top of his head as he carried her out of the kitchen and up the stairs. Even as he walked he rooted his face against her chest and neck; nipping, biting, even licking occasionally. Masha couldn’t stop her mind from wandering to the girls she had warned away from orcs over the last couple years. Orcs were dangerous, not designed to be with creatures as fragile as humans.

But, as Dorghu kicked the bedroom door closed behind him and knelt down to drop her back on his over sized bed Masha thought about it more. While he knelt on the ground and looked up at her and her mind and body went into overdrive. A gang captain, a clan leader, one of the most powerful, dangerous, violent orcs she’d ever encountered was on his fucking knees in front of her, waiting for her permission to let him have what he wanted.

No man had ever looked at her that way. No man had ever known what she needed or wanted just by breathing the same air. No man had ever denied his most primal instincts to make her feel better. No man had ever bought her a $100,000 car. No man had ever trusted her with information that could end his life or send him to prison. No man had ever killed for her. 

His thumb rubbed over the seam at the crotch of her jeans and Masha let out a whimper as she fell back against the mattress and spread her legs open wider for him. 

She had been wrong, let the girls have their orc fantasies. Every woman deserved an orc. Fuck the danger and the pain, it was worth it. 

He rubbed his face against her, again through her jeans, his tusks catching against the inseam before he made quick work of the button and zipper and then the jeans all together. Masha’s eyes rolled closed as he buried his face between her legs and reached one hand up to grope at a breast. She cursed in her language and in his as his tongue swept up and down her slit in wet, wide passes and his tusks pushed into the hollows of her thighs on either side.

A jolt shot through her as he tweaked a nipple between the rough pads of his fingers and nudged the tip of her tongue between her folds. She felt his ear twitch against her thigh as he repeated the action and produced the same result. Eyes still closed she pushed her head back into the bed and grabbed at her own tits through the fabric of the shirt, Dorghus hand flexing underneath hers once before pulling away happy to let her play with herself. He kept his hands moving across her stomach and thighs while he sucked and licked at her pussy and after a few minutes her hips rocked and she ground herself against his face.

FInally she felt it, in the pit of her stomach and the base of her spine. Dorghu noticed too and he crushed his blunt nose against her clit and forced his tongue inside of her in one deep lick before he sniffed sharply and growled. He hummed against her clit and before Masha could notice his absence he pulled away an crawled over her on the bed. HIs tongue forced its way into her mouth this time and she moaned and writhed underneath of him as she tasted her own arousal on him.

“That’s my good girl.” He growled into her ear as he laid to one side and slid one of his smaller fingers into her folds, slick with a combination of his saliva and her own juices. Dorghu began to slowly and purposefully thrust his ring finger in and out of her until her hips began to mimic his rhythm and her breaths came faster. She had her arms thrown up over her head and her hands fisted in the blankets. “Feel okay?” He asked her as he inserted a second finger.

Her answer came in an airy moan and the arch of her back up off of the bed. She stretched up to kiss him and he eventually leaned down further to accommodate her. He had let his eyes close as he worked his fingers in her, curling and twisting while he let her suck and chew at his lips. Because his eyes were closed and his senses were overwhelmed he had somehow missed her arms moving until he felt her hands on the buckle of his belt.

Between them both something changed and while she fought with his belt he rolled onto his back and pulled her on top of him. With his hands free he dug them into her hair to pull her lips back to his and once he felt she would stay there, sucking his bottom lip into her mouth and licking around the roots of his tusks, he moved his hands to help her shove his jeans down. As soon as his cock was free Masha was rubbing herself against it. Grinding over it from base to tip and moaning into his mouth with each stroke. His hands had clamped onto her ass and pulled her hips tighter against his. When he pulled one heel up onto the bed and used it to push them both further onto the bed Masha was jostled further up his stomach and shuddered when the head of his dick push against her entrance. She moaned and pulled away from his lips to breathe in his ear, “I can’t, I can’t be on top. I’m out of shape, my legs won’t hold.”

He moved his hands to her thighs and pushed her down himself slightly, the tip just barely breaking the tension of her outer lips, “I’ll take care of you love. If I fuck you on your back I’m just gonna hurt you worse, this way I can be careful.”

Her eyes flashed to their normal icey blue and she smiled at him from a breath away as she sank herself an inch or two onto his length with a little gasp. She could see the look on his face. He wanted to drive himself into her, bounce her up and down on top of him until she was a babbling, screaming, gushing mess. But, the restraint he showed was admirable and appreciated. Masha was finally wet, but usually the only reason she could take him so easily was that her body absolutely malfunctioned at the mention of sex with with this monster and she would be soaked and dripping in seconds. Now she was damp at best.

Slower than normal she raised herself up and then down the first couple, narrower, inches of him until she began to sink lower with every stroke. He held still beneath her, letting her take the lead for as long as she could. His eyes were fixed on where their bodies came together, never ceasing to be amazed at the sight. She knew it did dangerous things to his ego to watch his long and thick cock sink into her, stretch her and fill her and she didn’t mind playing it up a bit. Masha was wet enough for his entirety now, she knew that, but it felt too good teasing him by leaving that last inch of him uncovered with every pass. In fact she went back to sliding over just the tip, enjoying the way the bulge of the head felt as it popped in and out.

When her legs started to shake Dorghus hands braced under her and kept the motion going exactly as she had been. She knew what he really wanted and knew that with all this time away from him she would not last long after. As her inner muscles started to flutter at just the thought she decided to cave in and caught him off guard by dropping down and taking him in completely.

They both moaned and Dorghu cursed through gritted teeth, “Fuck Masha.”

And just like that she needed more, now. To hell with her barely healed body and the new bruises she might have. She leaned down, pressing herself against him completely and licked the shell of his right ear, gash and all, _“I need this, please. Fuck me, hard, I need it.”_

Dorghu instant clamped his hands around her hips and began pounding into her from below, his self control destroyed. Every stroke bottomed out and each one earned him a hot, choked moan against his ear. She was too tight, there was too much friction and he had missed her too much because when the first spasm of her pussy came he was already pistoning into her in high gear. She was nearly crying into his neck and her nails dug into his arms as she came hard around him. Her sudden orgasm gushing out of her caught Dorghu by surprise as his hips jerked into her sporadically before he emptied himself into her with a roar.

~~~~~~~~

Masha was completely limp on top of him, even as her pussy continued to twitch around his quickly deflating cock. He couldn’t think anything for several moments other than about how badly he had need that. He tilted his head to look at her, “You okay Love?”

Her answer was a soft, pleased, “Mhmm.” mumbled into the side of his neck and he ran his hands over her body once more before he dropped his elbows back to the bed, his palms gripping the backs of her knees. Her breathing evened out quickly and only moments after registering she had fallen asleep did he let his flaccid member fall out of her with a groan and doze off himself, with their shirts bunched up around their chests and his jeans still down around his knees.

~~~~~~~


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is where this story starts to intersect with Bloody & Bylines, my other Bright fic. If you haven't that one yet you should! 
> 
> Orcish is in bold.

“I don’t want you goin’ anywhere by yourself until this all plays out.” Dorghu murmured into her hair.

Masha shifted her position a little and moved her head further onto his chest. “Is it going to do me any good to argue?”

He chuckled and pulled her tighter against him, “None.” His fingers trailed up and down her back under the shirt she still wore. “I want you in an Escalade with two of the guys.” He paused and watched her hand as it scratched idly at the pale patch of skin on his bare torso. “At least until things settle down.” He continued to watch her hand, “You aren’t going to argue?”

“No, I’ll complain… but I’m not going to argue.” She braced herself up on her elbows and stared up at him. “What you saw last night, I can’t even imagine and …” she crawled up until they were face to face, her hovering over his, “I don’t want to get beat up by mexicans again, or… hell, something worse than mexicans from the sound of it.”

Dorghu glared at her, “Don’t say shit like that.” He reached up and dug his hand into her hair and held her, staring at her for a minute before bringing her down for a deep, slow kiss. When they pulled apart he scented the air and immediately groaned., “We better get out of bed or I’m never going to get anything done.” He pulled her back in for another rougher kiss and a smack on the ass before he rolled off the bed and did up his jeans and belt that he had only managed to pull up to around his waist. After he straightened out his shirt he looked back at Masha and groaned again.

“What?” She had rolled onto her back and stretched out in the place he had vacated.

He shook his head, “C’mon Devochka, get up, get dressed.” He chuckled but stopped as soon as she stood up and stripped the jersey off. He continued to watch her as she pulled on her ratty jeans and worn out hoodie she had been wearing when he found her at his kitchen table the night before.

He was still staring when she padded across the carpet and directly past him, only to stop in the doorway and look at him pointedly, “Come on, shit to do, remember.”

When he made it downstairs he found her finishing another cup of coffee, with a smug smirk on her face. He didn’t comment, only walked to the chair where he had hung his leathers the night before. While he straightened his collar and necklace he watched her intently, “I’ll follow you to your place and have Dominik and Ryon meet you there.” He caught the eye roll and walked up behind her. “I am going to have enough shit to worry about in the foreseeable future. I cannot be distracted worrying about you too.”

Masha turned around in front of him and nodded, “I understand.” She smiled a little, “Still going to complain about it though.”

“Of course you are.” Dorghu leaned his forehead against hers. “Keep an eye on Mikey while he’s at the bar.”

“You know I will.”

~~~~~~~

When Masha walked through the front door of the bar Nessa looked up and smiled, “There you are!” She froze for a second, “And you have… shadows.” 

Masha walked up to lean across the bar counter, “Yes I do. Why don’t you give them a couple drinks so maybe they can relax a little.” Masha circled around to stand behind the bar while Nessa fixed Dominik and Ryon up with a beer each.

At the other end of the bar Masha filled herself a vodka and sprite as Nessa came to stand next to her. Her friend scented the air on reflex and stopped in her tracks. Masha watched as the female orc scented the air again and then rushed forward with a huge smile on her face, “Please tell me this means you and Dorghu are… good again.”

“What?” Masha whispered back, “I took a shower before I came.”

Nessa giggled, the pale lines across her face blushing a little, “No just that you are happier, more relaxed, less pain.” Nessa looked over her shoulder at the two orcs now sitting at the bar, “That and the personal bodyguards over there.” Masha rolled her eyes and took a long pull from the drink she had made which only made Nessa chuckle more, “And yes you smell like him and sex. One shower doesn’t cut it sweetie.”

Masha decided to down the rest of her drink in one go and make herself another, _“This is my life now. Come to America they said. It will be fun they said.”_

“If you’re going to mutter under your breath at least do it in a language I can understand.”

Masha glared at her friend but could not hold it for long and eventually smiled back, “Yes, I feel better, yes I think he and I are good again. Is everything been ok here? Mikey around still?”

Nessa nodded, “He’s in the back. Everything here is fine, but everyone in the neighborhood is talking about last night. Nobody really knows what happened other than it isn’t good.” She threw another glance towards the enforcers Dorghu had tasked with babysitting Masha. “Apparently you know more than the rest of us.”

With a sigh Masha leaned against the back counter and watched a few maintenance workers come through the front door. “It’s not good.” She took another sip of her second drink and nodded towards the new customers, “Nessa, go home with Tolar tonight okay? If he is busy I will take you home.” She tried not to let her voice sound to foreboding but Nessa knew too well.

“Okay.” Her cheery voice was flat now, “Are you here till close?”

“Me, Mikey and my personal bodyguards.” Masha forced a smile and Nessa returned it.

In the office Masha sat at the desk and opened the laptop, swigging from her vodka and Sprite while she waited for the LA Times website to load. No wands, no brights, no prophecies, no plans to raise the dark lord. A couple gang shootings and one house fire. Four dead cops, a dead sheriff’s deputy and two of LAPD’s finest to be awarded medals in a ceremony later next week.

Masha leaned back in her chair and chewed at the thick ring she wore on her thumb, _“The less you know the more soundly you sleep.”_

~~~~~~~

Mikey looked far less than awake when he fumbled down the stairs.

**“Dare I say good morning?”** Masha peered at him over her coffee cup as he made his way into the kitchen.

**“I am done with school already. Is that bad?”**

Masha chuckled and watched him poor a cup of coffee, which he never drink, **“Considering you have barely finished your first week? Yes.”**

He took a drink of the coffee Masha had made and twisted up his face, only to take a second drink. “Masha, can I ask you a favor?”

“Sure kid. What’s up?”

Mikey shuffled over to the table and sat in the chair across from her, “I was uh… I was wondering if I could take your Caddy to school today.” He made another attempt at drinking the coffee he had poured himself.

With a skeptical eye she looked him over. The boy hadn’t even had energy to put a shirt on yet, he sat across from her in a pair of baggy gym shorts and had one elbow propped on the table holding his head up. “That depends. Why do you want to take my car?”

He sighed deeply, “Because there’s a girl.”

“Of course there is.” Masha chuckled but stopped when he looked at her pleadingly.

“There’s a girl, and we’re both seniors so we’re allowed to go off campus for lunch.” He paused like he hoped she would fill in the rest of the blanks for him. She didn’t. “She, her Dad is clan and she knows who my Dad is and everything.” He paused again, this time for a yawn. “And I don’t know, I guess I just want to impress her.”

Masha stared at him for several moments, enjoying her coffee and the young mans discomfort, until Dorghu came down the stairs, doing up the cuffs of his shirt as he walked. He looked up to say good morning but seemed to change his mind, “What’s going on here?”

“You’re son wants to take my car to school today.”

Dorghu hummed as he walked by, “Why?”

“A girl.” Masha smiled at the dirty look he shot her.

“And why does this mean he needs your car?” Dorghu looked them over while he buttoned the front of his shirt.

“I think he wants to take her to lunch in a fancy car so he can make a good impression.”

His father looked to Mikey, “Is she an orc?”

Mikey furrowed his brow, “Does it matter?” He even looked to Masha as if it helped him make his point.

“No but you answering my question does.”

The younger orc sighed, “Yes, she is. Her dad is clan but he’s - he’s not gang. She knows I’m your son and she’s from the neighborhood so she, she knows and she- she, I think she… I really like her.”

Dorghu contemplated for a moment, arms crossed against his broad chest and his stance wide. “Bring her to the party tonight.”

Masha saw the momentary panic flash across Mikey’s eyes and she jumped in, “If she wants to.” She turned her attention to Dorghu, “Your parties can be a little overwhelming to eighteen year old girls, regardless of their race.”

Dorghu snorted and grabbed his leather jacket and cut off the hook by the back door, he looked over both of them as he walked through the kitchen and grabbed his keys and cigarettes off the counter before he leaned down to Masha’s ear, “Ryon and Dom will be here soon, I will see you tonight.” He rubbed his face against her neck for a second and then stood up straight, “Let him take the car if you want. Tell this girlfriend of yours she is welcome to come to the party with you tonight, if she wants.” Dorghu thumped his son on the back with a heavy hand as he walked towards the front door.

Mikey dropped his head down on the table and grumbled loudly, “She’s not my girlfriend!”

Masha laughed softly as she stood up from the table and dumped what remained of his coffee cup into her own, “Not yet you mean.” She patted him on the back, **“Go get ready for school. You will have to stop and put gas in my car on the way.”**

Mikey pulled his head up from the table and smiled, his pale skin blushed across his cheekbones, **“Thank you Masha.”**

~~~~~~~

Masha checked herself over in the mirror one last time before she grabbed one of her favorite leather jackets out of the closet and shrugged it on as she walked out the bedroom door. She straightened out her hair and necklaces on her way down the stairs but froze a few steps from the bottom when someone knocked on the front door.

Ryon hefted himself up off the couch, gun in hand and walked to the door. He glanced out one of the front windows and then quickly shoved the handgun in the back of his jeans. “Shit, Mash get down here.” He unlocked the door and swung it open as Masha hurried across the living room. She froze when she saw who was standing on Dorghu’s front porch.

“Lacee?” Masha stared for a moment before her reflexes kicked in, “Jesus sweetheart what the hell happened.” Masha grabbed her as Ryon tugged her gently in the front door and locked the door behind them.

The young girl was pale and wrapped in a zippered hoodie that was two sizes, her hair a mess and her right eye was puffy and dark. She didn’t say anything but shuffled towards Masha and fell into her. Masha wrapped her arms around the girl and held her as she sobbed into her chest, the small piece of resolve that had been holding her together broke loose and she cried.

Over Lacees shoulder Masha and Ryon shared a look but said nothing.

Slowly, Masha ushered Lacee to the couch and sat her down, kneeling in front of her, hands on either side of her face. “C’mon sweetie, you gotta breathe.” Lacee’s sobs continued but scattered among them were gasps of air that showed she was trying to get herself together. “Ryon, call D tell him I’m not gonna make it. And start a pot of coffee.”

Several minutes later, Masha still knelt on the floor, Lacee started to run out of steam. “Can you talk?” When Lacce wiped at her running nose and nodded Masha moved to sit beside her. She ran a hand over her face, careful to keep her rings from catching in Lacees hair. “Lacee, what happened? Why are you here? Who did this?”

After a few shaky breaths Lacee fisted her hands in the sleeves of the grungy hoodie. “My boyfriend.” her voice cracked and a sob escaped. “I uh, I told him- told him I… I found out I was pregnant…”

Masha sucked in a breath, “Jesus Christ Lacee…”

Something between a laugh and a sob racked her body, “I uh, guess he…guess he wasn’t all that excited.” The tears started again, “I didn’t even see it comin’ Masha.” She collapsed into Masha again, sobbing.

Masha held her while she let the crying take over again and turned slightly to look at Ryon. He stood in the kitchen doorway, snarling and the muscles in his arms rolling as he clenched un unclenched his fists. Her attention back on Lacee Masha stroked her hair, “Lacee, hon, I gotta ask; have you gone to a doctor yet?” She took the more forceful sobs as a no. “Okay, it’s okay sweetie. I’m gonna take you to an ER get you checked out.”

Lacee nodded against her shoulder. “Can I- can I clean up a little bit first?” She sniffed, loud and wet.

“Yeah. Listen sweetie first, I need you to tell me who this guy is.” When Lacee stared at her wide, wet eyes blank with confusion Masha elaborated. “I know you moved to Santa Barbara with someone but I need his name, address.”

Lacee shuddered and wiped at her makeup smeared face again, “Why?”

Masha sighed and rubbed her hand over Lacees back, “When you check into the ER you’re gonna tell them the truth about what happened, but you are not going to tell them who or press charges. Understand?”

She gave a slight nod but she was still confused.

“We are going to take care of him. Okay?” Masha looked over her, “He’s going to pay for this. Men that treat women like this get worse than they give.” Behind her Ryon snarled again, a wicked smile on his face.

It took a couple minutes but Lacee did finally nod and wipe her face one last time before she sat up straighter. “My phone is in my car. His address is with his phone number. It’s under uh… under Jason.” She fought down another sob that threatened to escape, “Jason with three little, purple hearts next to it.”

Masha nodded and squeezed Lacees hand, “Okay. C’mon, let’s get you in the shower quick and get you taken care of.” She stood up and pulled Lacee with her, “Upstairs, guest bathroom is second on the left. I’ll bring you some clothes in a minute.” Masha stood in the middle of the living room and watched Lacee carefully climb the stairs, the hoodie falling off one of her bare, bruised shoulders. With venom in her throat Masha turned to Ryon, “You reach out, send some of our guys if you have to, but I want that fucker beat into the goddamned ground, pissed on and buried in the bottom of some hooker alley dumpster. You understand me?”

When Ryon looked her up and down he did it with a smile on his face and a low, rumbling chuckle, “Yes ma’am.”

“Make the calls then follow us to the Urgent Care and Oslo.” Masha started up the stairs.

~~~~~~~~

The ER waiting room was empty and quiet except for Masha and the Magnum P.I. reruns on the outdated tv mounted in the corner. Masha sat with her legs and arms crossed, slouched back in the cheap, mass produced chairs. She alternated between staring at the grainy tv picture and the admissions clerk playing on her phone behind the bullet resistant glass.

One of the nurses had taken Lacee back almost two hours ago now, two Magnum episodes, and Masha was starting to get antsy. She snapped her head to the side when she heard the hiss of the automatic doors sliding open. The look on Ryons face did nothing to calm her nerves.

Behind the glass the clerk perked up at the site of the admittedly terrifying orc in his gang colors. Masha ignored her and focused on Ryon, **“What?”**

He walked closer, phone still held halfway up to his ear, **“Marcus called. Cops raided the party.”**

Masha stood up, arms dropped to her sides, **“Mother fucker… Who?”**

Ryon stepped closer, tilted his head down and lowered his voice, even though there was nobody in the whole building that could probably understand them. **“JJ, Darren, Otto, Jozeph… Rusty…Dom. Warrants on Dom and JJ, other four parole violations.”**

Masha forced down the urge to hit something, **“Complete fucking horse shit. What else?”**

**“Marcus said they just came for warrants, grabbed the others, broke up the party.”** He must have saw the look on her face, **“Kids had already left, Nessa was at work, reporter chick was there but To got her out… Boss has been clear for years girly, they got nothin’ to grab him on even if they wanted to.”**

**“I know… I know. Shit.”** She paced some more and glared at the receptionist until she went back to whatever game she had been playing on her phone. Masha turned back to Ryon, **“Go. I’ll stay with Lacee, take her to the house when she’s done.”** He looked skeptical, **“Go, I’m fine.”**

Ryon finally let his hand that held the phone fall back to his side but did not move to leave.

**“What?”**

**“I don’t know if it means anything or not… but one of the cops, was that orc cop.”**

Masha took a deep breath and let her head roll back and to the side in exasperation, **“Of course it fucking was.”** She forced herself to take another deep breath and then shoved her hands in her jacket pockets. **“Get out of here, go help handle this shit. Tell Dorghu I’ll work on getting bail together.”**

Her bodyguard still looked unsure of leaving her and Lacee alone but both he and Masha knew he had more important places to be. **“You carrying?”**

**“In the car.”** They nodded to each other and the doors hissed again as Ryon left.


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> **Orcish looks like this**   
>  _Russian looks like this_

Chapter Eleven

“Yes, that part I understand. What I don’t understand is why they aren’t telling us the charges, the bail or the hearing date!” Masha had been trying to keep her voice under control but she was beginning to lose her grip. “Oh don’t give me that bull shit. It’s been twenty-four hours they should all be charged and have hearing dates set by now!” She slouched back in the desk chair, “I don’t care, do what we pay you to do and make them do what the taxpayers pay them to do, then I will calm down.” With a snarl she spun in the chair and shrew the phone against the far wall, narrowly missing the spot where Dorghu leaned against the wall by the door. _“Shit! Babe I’m sorry, I didn’t know you were home.”_

“Just now.” He looked her over carefully as she stood from the desk chair and walked to him. He held one arm out for her and wrapped it around her waist loosely as she grabbed his face. “I’m fine.” He ducked his head when she pulled at his neck and kissed her as carefully as he could. “Where is Mikey?”

“Girlfriends house, getting ready to go to church probably.” Masha pulled back but stayed within his arms reach, his hand hooked in her back pocket. “I don’t know if you heard but Lacee came back, she’s at my place with Nessa.”

He nodded, eyes heavy. “I assume you were talking to Holland.”

Masha snarled, angry again, “Yes, not that he was any help.”

“So I heard.” He sighed and pushed away from the wall but stayed close, his hand held her still by the pocket.”I should get going too, just wanted to check on you.”

“Not me you should be worried about. Think you could drop me at the garage on seventh on your way to the church?”

Dorghu narrowed his eyes, tired but still sharp. “Why?”

“I asked Cotton to get one of the old Tahoes street legal for me, need to go pick it up.” Masha rubbed at her own eyes, heavy and burning from lack of sleep since the party was busted.

“What do you need an SUV for?”

She sighed and stepped away to pick up the cell phone she had thrown, scowling at the freshly cracked screen. “Tali called, crying, if Dom gets real time she’s going to have to pick up more shifts at the diner and she wouldn’t be able to pick up the kids from school. And Dorrinda, I talked to her and she was talking about dropping her night class because she couldn’t get Calam into an after school program. So, I told them I’d pick up the kids when they got out of school and take them to Sarahs.” Once she noticed the strange look on Dorghu’s face she stopped. “What?”

All he did was shake his head subtly and dig his hand into her hair at the back of her neck. After staring at her for several heartbeats he rested his temple against hers and let his eyes fall closed for a second before he pulled back and led her down the stairs. 

They didn’t speak again until he was helping into the passenger seat of his truck. “D, what do I do if… What do it do it you go away?”

He paused, leaned against the open door, “Love, I have no warrants, I’m off probation.”

“That doesn’t mean you can’t get arrested!” Masha flinched at her own exclamation, but Dorghu stayed stoic.

He leaned closer to her, With the height of the pickup he was able to rest his face against the welcoming crook of her neck. HIs lips and tusks rubbed against the scars he still felt guilty for, “All you need to know is that if something happens to me, Mikey and you are taken care of.” Dorghu leaned back once he felt Masha sigh and let go of a long breath. He gave her a soft smile as he swung the trucks door closed and walked around to the drivers side.

~~~~~~~

It was a relatively slow Monday night when Dorghu shoved through the front door. **“Nessa. She here?”**

**“In the office.”** She looked up from the table she was wiping down, damp rag hanging from her hand.

**“Thank you.”** He walked through the bar and down the hall towards the office. He came to the open door just in time to see her throw a handful of pills into her mouth and chase them with a glass of what he assumed was her usual. **“Are you okay?”**

**“I’m fine.”** She snapped the cap back on the orange bottle with no label and dropped it in a desk drawer. **“Thought you were going to be out all night.”**

“Devochka…”

Masha heaved a sigh and closed the laptop in front of her part way. “I am fine. Just… still get sore sometimes.”

He walked to her desk and leaned against it next to where she sat, “Are you sure?”

She reached her left hand over and scratch her nails across the denim over his thigh, “I am sure. What are you doing here?”

Dorghu smelled the pain on her, tension. Her accent was heavy as were her slightly darker than normal eyes. He thought for a moment about pushing the subject but decided against it. Later. “I need you to look into something for me.” He pulled the letter Jakoby had given him out of his jacket pocket and handed it to her. “It’s not much, but it may have to do with Aimee being missing.”

Masha’s eyes cleared before him and he worried a little less, “The reporter girl? Why is she missing?” She quickly scanned the letter as she waited for his response.

“Jakoby says he saw her the day after they raided the party, but not since.” Dorghu pulled out his pack of cigarettes but snarled to see he had put it back in his pocket empty.

Out of the same desk drawer as her pills Masha pulled out a half used pack and held it up to him still reading. He grabbed her hand and the package, pulling her hand to his lips for a second before taking the cigarettes and lighting one. He had just shoved the newer pack into his pocket when Masha set the letter down. “Jakoby? So your orc cop friend came to you when your little reporter friend went missing? Cute.”

“Devochka.” The endearment came as more of a warning this time.

“Just saying, might be more trouble than they are worth.” She looked him in the eye and then rolled hers, “I will see what I can find, make some calls. Can I borrow Ryon tomorrow?”

“Of course. Why don’t you go home, Love? Nessa is ok by herself. Go get some rest.” He tracked her movements as she stood up and stepped in front of him, her hands going to his sides. They were the same height now that he was slouched back against the desk and he reached for her lazily.

_“Are you done for tonight?”_ Her fingers rolled the cotton of his shirt back and forth.

“Not yet Love.” He rubbed his hands up and down her sides careful to avoid any skin that may distract him.

She nodded, a little sad, and flattened her palms against his ribs, _“Okay. I will be home in tub.”_ She leaned towards him and gave him a kiss he knew she had kept far to short and simple on purpose. _“Be safe.”_ She tapped the laptop rest the way closed and pulled away to walk to the hook that held her bag but he stopped her short.

A hand caught her by the wrist and tugged her back. When she smiled the air of unease around her lessened and Dorghu found it easy to return the smile as he pulled her against him and into a proper kiss. “Enjoy your bath, I will be home soon.” He kissed her again, one tusk rubbing her cheekbone accidentally gave them both a shudder and he finally pulled back, letting her grab her things and head out the back door.

~~~~~~~~

“Ryon, where’s D?” She hung up her phone and sat up straighter in the passenger seat of the SUV.

“Working with some of the guys.” He glanced over his shoulder at her briefly.

“Where?” She caught the look in his eyes and knew he was holding something back.

His shoulders rose and fell and he didn’t look back at her this time. “Meeting some new business associates.”

This time Masha glared at the side of his head until he looked her way. “Fine, don’t tell me. Just take me there.” She saw him start to object and she cut him off, **“Take me. Now.”**

The look he gave her was uncertain but he complied. When the vehicle came to a stop she kicked the door open and slid out onto the sidewalk. She looked around, reading the flashing neon signs directly in front of her, and then cocked a hip and an eyebrow. “You have got to be fucking kidding me.”

“Girly, c’mon let’s just…”

“Nope.” She cut Ryon off and pulled her bag higher up her shoulder before she walked through the blacked out front doors. Inside Masha pulled her sunglasses off and hung them from the front of her tank top. Her eyes scanned the dingy establishment with it’s poker machines, questionable patrons and barely dressed women. Everyone she could see was human, except for maybe some of the dancers. One on the stage closest to her had some scaling on her legs that looked to realistic to be makeup.

Without even a glance over her shoulder she asked Ryon, “Where is he?” She didn’t need orcish sense of smell to catch the fear rolling off of him in waves.

“I don’t know girly, I really don’t. I just know this is where they were coming.”

She snorted out a laugh and looked towards the bar, “I bet they are.” Masha slid between two vinyl covered bar stools and waved one of the bartenders over. “Hey doll, I’m looking for a guy, supposed to be here but I don’t see him. Looks a lot like this one,” She pointed to Ryon, “Except bigger and scarier.” The bartender’s eyes darted from Ryon’s Fogteeth cut to Masha and back. WIth an exasperated sigh Masha dug through her bag, set her pistol on the bar and then pulled out a wad of cash and counted off four bills, which she handed to the girl across the counter, “Where are they?”

Much happier to answer now the pretty young thing pointed towards the back, “Private room. Third door on the left.”

Masha pulled off two more bills before she shoved the cash back in her bag and slid the handgun into the back of her jeans. “Thank you very much.” She took off in that direction, ignoring Ryons continuing protests all the way up to the curtain that covered the door. Barging through the door, though it lost some of its effect without a real door, she came face to face with a round booth surrounded by comfy leather chairs and a stage in the middle complete with pole. Dorghu sat with his back to her, Marcus to his left and two other rather large, round men in nice suits sat across the table/stage from them.

Two additional men on either side of the door jumped at her arrival but Ryon did his job and stood in their way already spewing apologies to the two very shocked “business” men and one very angry looking Dorghu. **“Boss, I’m sorry. She made me, you know how she is.”**

Marcus coughed out a laugh but kept his eyes on the table.

Dorghu and Masha stared each other down for a moment and it was Dorghu that spoke first, **“Explain.”**

**“You first.”** She matched his scowl with a smirk but did eventually end the battle by explaining. **“I found him. The guy you think you’re looking for.”**

Dorghu’s eyes changed and he finally broke his stare with her to look back to the men across the table. “Gentlemen, please excuse my girlfriend. She has brought me something urgent I need to handle, if you’ll excuse me.”

The two men nodded and whispered between themselves. _“She does look to need him urgently. Another angry girlfriend yes?”_

They both laughed and then the other replied, _“I am sure. It makes sense now, him turning down our girls. His is much better.”_ Them and the two guards all chuckled.

So did Masha. With one hand she handed Dorghu the paper she had written her notes on as she came to stand beside him, but her eyes focused on the Russians across the table. _“I apologize for interrupting your business meeting but, it is urgent. It will not take him long at all to take care of things and you can get back to your… very important business meeting.”_

Every eye in the room was on her. The four Russians all slack jawed. Ryon and Marcus confused and Dorghu trying to hide a smirk. “If you’ll excuse me, I have to go make some calls. This lovely lady, think of her as my business manager, her and Marcus can go over details with you.” As he stood from his chair he nodded to them, then to Marcus and made sure to drag his hand over Masha’s hips as he left the room.

When nobody spoke Masha filled the silence, _“In interest of make a good first impression, I should tell you I am armed. As is my bodyguard.”_ She turned and picked up the back of her shirt for the Russian guard that quickly grabbed the handgun from her jeans.

The older of the two business men looked her over, _“You are Russian.”_

_“I am.”_ She slid herself into the chair Dorghu had vacated.

_“St. Petersburg?”_

_“University there. Yekaterinburg, I was born.”_

“And here you are part of Orcish mafia?” The second man asked, skeptical.

_“Not…mafia. Clan is better word. I help run business, keep track of money.”_

_“Ride the leaders big blue cock.”_ The second man added and three of the four Russians laughed.

Masha smiled directly at the mouthy one, eyes icy blue and unyielding, _“I handle the money because I am good with math. I ride his cock because it’s fun and it feels good. Now, you were discussing business? Would you like to continue that or talk about orc cock some more? If you’re curious to try I’m sure I can find a big bad orc willing and able to give you some for yourself.”_

The room was deadly silent for several minutes and Marcus started to fidget beside her. Finally, the older, larger man shattered the silence with a boisterous guffaw. He looked from Masha to his partner and then back, laughing so hard tears leaked from his swollen eyes. _“This girl! I like her! I am Dimitri Sosova, forgive my lieutenant, he has no manners.”_ The man dissolved into laughter again as he reached across the table to shake her hand.

_“Masha Volokova. He is forgiven.”_ She stood to shake the man’s hand and then settled back into her chair.

“Good. You all, leave us. Find some girls. Miss Volokova and I have business to discuss.”

Marcus and Ryon both looked to Masha and waited for her nod before they left the room.

Once the room was empty Dimitri clapped his hands, _“Excellent. Now, a drink?”_

~~~~~~~

By the time Masha and Dorghu left the strip club Masha had a new friend, Dorghu had a lucrative new business deal and some of the other Fogteeth were dragging in the prime suspect in Aimee’s disappearance. Dorghu grabbed her arm and spun her around so her back nearly slammed into the car door. Her muscles tensed but instantly relaxed when she saw the look in his eyes. “You’re fucking incredible do you know that?” He slammed his mouth into hers and used the whole of his body to push into her. She whimpered when he pulled away, but stood up straight as Marcus and Ryon exited the club behind them. Dorghu turned to his men, mostly Ryon, **“Get her home then meet us at the church.”**

Ryon nodded and he bumped fists with Marcus as they parted ways.

Dorghu turned back to Masha, rubbing his face against her neck and kneading an ass cheek in the massive hand that wasn’t bracing his weight against the SUV. His breath was hot in her ear and his tusk rubbed against her cheek. “The boys can handle this. When I get home…” He let out a shudder of a breath that almost rumbled like a growl from his throat. He left the sentence unfinished, instead he took another kiss from her and walked off down the street to Marcus waiting patiently by the Escalade.

~~~~~~~

Masha had just got out of the shower and made her way downstairs to grab a beer from the kitchen when the phone in her hand rang. She saw his name and swiped to answer right away, “Hey Babe, you on your way?”

“Masha, I need you to go to the hospital.”

She stopped two stairs from the bottom, her heart pounding in her chest and her throat tight. “Who?”

Dorghu was silent for too long before he answered, “Aimee’s been shot.”

~~~~~~~


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter Twelve

Masha didn’t jump when the door opened in the room behind her, she just watched him in the mirror as he walked up to the bathroom door and watched her. Masha pulled the shirt over her head, taking the opportunity to stretch, loosen the muscles in her back that always seemed to stiffen up after a day and night of work. She dropped the shirt in the hamper by the cupboard and stretched some more.

She saw where his eyes were focused as he walked up behind her, his rough fingers traced the lines and shading over her shoulder, down her back, over her ribs before he settled a heavy hand on her waist. His middle finger still traced the flow of ink over her hip. He stood behind her now, his chest against her back, the zipper of his leather jacket rubbed against her shoulder blades. **“You know, I never understood this.”** His other hand traced the tattoos on her left side. **“Orcs, we grow up hating the colors and patterns of our skin…”** His hands roamed, followed the the varying outlines of ink on her skin and all she could do was lean back into him. His touch slid over the newest addition to her collection, an orcish phrase inked across her forearm in a graffiti style. Mikey had drawn it for her. **“Humans, elves, everyone hates us for it… but humans, you pay for this shit, to be done to you. Willingly.”**

His voice was harsh but his touch stayed light. Masha turned to look up at him over her shoulder, _“Makes my skin not so boring, makes me unique, makes me like myself a little more.”_ She wrapped her hands around each of his wrists, bringing them to a stop over her hip bones. _“You’ve never said you didn’t like them before.”_ Her eyes moved back to the mirror, taking in the contrast of his dark blue/green skin against her own pale white.

His voice was lower and closer to her ear, “Never said I don’t like them.” His hands moved again, around the waistband of her yoga pants and then back up her sides. “I don’t like the hypocrisy.” 

“I know.” Masha turned around in his grasp, arching her spine slightly as he dug his fingers into her lower back. Her own hand, the right one, wrapped around the leather of his jacket while the other reached up to trace the scars on his face. **“It’s just skin.”**

He let out a long sigh, dropped his forehead against hers, **“That’s all that matters to some.”**

Foreheads still pressed together she slid her hands to the center of his chest, pushed his jacket open further and popped open the first few buttons of his shirt. She pressed her palm flat against his chest, skin on skin, “Yeah, well you know where I stand on the subject.” She pulled her forehead back from his, with one hand she tilted his head back and laid her forehead against his collarbone instead.

Dorghu spread his hands wide across your her back, “I know.” He pressed her smaller, leaner body tighter against his. He didn’t say anything for a long time but eventually she felt his chest rise and fall in a deep breath. “I thought you were gonna change clothes.”

She chuckled and pulled back slightly, “I thought you were gonna wait downstairs.”

“Are you tellin’ me to get out?” He loosened his grip just slightly but did not let her go. Hands still around her waist, he rubbed his nose along her cheekbone to her ear, his tusks dragging along as he went.

“Can you keep your hands to yourself? ‘Cause we’re already running late and I do have to shower and change.”

He hummed against her ear, inhaled deeply and chuckled, “You know I can’t.” Dorghu rubbed his face against hers once more, coming to rest his mouth against hers in an awkward, rough, sloppy kiss she had grown so fond of over the past few years. When he pulled back he paused to give her ass a good squeeze, “I’ll be downstairs.” Without another word or even a glance over his shoulder he left the bedroom, closing the door behind him, leaving her to get changed for the party.

~~~~~~~

When Masha made her way to the back room she saw officer Jakoby and gave him a wide berth. Regardless of what Dorghu said or thought, Masha would never trust the orc cop. She could give him credit for the brave things he had done, but could not give him her trust. Maybe eventually, she reminded herself as she weaved through the crowd, she was afterall an outsider the same as him. A traitor to her own race really, if she admitted it, but she shoved that train of thought aside and took another long drink as she stopped to talk to some of the boys while she waited for Jakoby’s little reporter girlfriend to be on her way out of the room where Dorgu and the others were. Once she was gone Masha continued over to Dorghu, setting her drink on the table before dropping herself across his lap.

He laughed, deep and harsh, and buried his face in her neck as he groped at her backside with the hand that didn’t hold his beer.

She couldn’t help but laugh with him and pull his face up to meet hers in a kiss before she settled back against the arm of couch with a smile. “So are the cop and the reporter all happy now? We all just one, big, happy family?” Masha had just enough of a buzz to let her mouth be reckless.

Dorghu didn’t mind. He had given up trying to train her snark out of her some time ago, so instead he chuckled and took a drink of his beer. “I want you to keep her close.” He saw the look she gave him and continued, “She’s been through a lot. We let her into our circle and let her see, but not everything. Show her.”

Masha sat up straighter, but kept her legs draped across his thighs. “Show her what?”

“How to be a part of this family.”

She scoffed, “Why me?”

He gave her a strange look before he pulled her up and sat her astride his lap. ”You know what you are don’t you? To me? To this clan?”

The buzz gone, chased away by the look on her lovers face, Masha could only stare back at him.

“You’re my partner Masha, in every sense of the word. I know that you will be there, for me and for them. We’ve seen the worst and the best and came out of it stronger, together. ” His hands gripped her hard around the waist and his golden eyes bore into hers with such intensity she feared to look away. “Orc or not. Blood or not. You are a part of this clan, and this clan is a part of you.” He leaned his forehead against hers and brushed a hand over the scars on her neck, “You are a part of me and I am a part of you.” His fingers trailed over her bare shoulder and down her arm to her wrist.

She let her gaze fall to his grip on her arm as he turned it over and brought her wrist to his lips. Her breath caught as he placed a kiss over a part of the tattoo he had traced with his fingers earlier that evening and then brought his gaze back to hers before he spoke.

**“Blood or no blood, we are family.”** Now his gaze followed her hand as it reached up to press against his scarred face.

Her voice was quiet but strong as ever, and her smile as wicked and confident as ever. _“Blood or no blood, we are family.”_

~~~~~~~

The End...For Now

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Highly recommend you read my Jakoby fic Blood & Bylines as these two stories kind of go together. Thank you all so much for reading and all the support I was shocked to receive! I loved it all and more often than not it made my day!


End file.
